DmC: Devil May Cry
by The Night Lord
Summary: Based upon the new game. Dante must fight to save the city that seeks to destroy him, while trying to live up to his father's legacy. Violence and language contained within. Reviews are welcomed. Finished
1. Prisoner 64432B

AN: New Devil May Cry story, but I would like to point out that this is based upon the new game. Yes, the one with new Dante. I do love the old series and I would really like a continuation of that one, but I am willing to give this new game a chance, despite reservations about it. And it gives me a chance to do something different, I guess. So, only read if you're interested and I will accept no flames. Just please enjoy

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Limbo City.

A place of sin, decadence and corruption with a dark, evil underbelly, mostly unknown to the many civilians that lived there. But they all knew there was something going on, some kind of wrongdoing, something…lurking in the shadows. Too afraid to confront their fears, they carried on their lives in a state of ignorance, each one trying to ignore the problems that plagued the city and plunge it further into depravity, while other men sought to increase their greed, their lust of power that continued to damn the city. But they weren't the only ones seeking power.

Demons resided within the city, seeking to turn the unknowing humans in mere pawns for their games in the race to reach the pinnacle of absolute power and perhaps even take the throne from the Demon King Mundus. Preying on the weak, demons continued to filter in from their world, infecting the city to the very core, twisting and turning it into their very own playground, their own kind their only enemy…unless one was to consider the angels as their foes…but angels hadn't been on Earth for two thousand years, content to hide away from the problems of the human race. But not all demons and angels are alike, not according to legend…

Legend has it that one demon and one angel sought to protect the human race from their kind. Sparda, the Dark Knight and right-hand man of Demon King Mundus, disgusted by how his king and fellow soldiers treated the human race, decided to do something about it and aided by Eva, said to be one of the most beautiful angels in existence, he defeat the king and sealed him in the lowest circle of Hell. Some would say he did it out of the goodness of his heart, others say he did it for love…for a certain angel who had guided him on his path of salvation.

But they were mere legends and neither had been seen in centuries, if they even existed at all, according to most, humans and demons alike, save for a few. Perhaps they had hidden themselves away from both their kind, for the union between an angel and demon is considered absolutely forbidden and will only result in death for both parties involved. If they did exist, perhaps their legacy lives on in someone else, someone who could possibly carry on the legacy in their name…or destroy it.

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The Limbo City Correctional Facility was more like a prison than its wardens let on to the public. A dirty, filthy building where prisoners hoped for death as salvation from the treatment they received, which was more like torture as the doctors sought to 'cure' their charges. A mental asylum disguised as a correctional facility. It was a complete laughing stock to the inmates, kept there like lab rats, with no hope of escaping. Any attempts were swiftly neutralised and the offending people or persons were hardly ever seen again, rumours circulating they were murdered in the solitary confinement cells, their blood painted along the corridors to serve as a deterrent to others. Not that it stopped some inmates desperate to see the open air once more.

A buzzer sounded somewhere within the building and the cells were opened, as the prisoners filed out, all under the watchful eye of the guards, all who were more than happy to subdue any misbehaving, palming their shock rods almost lovely, some wearing a look in their eyes that were begging the inmates to misbehave. As if the thought of torturing a prisoner was pleasant to them, something to be enjoyed. One prisoner, a young man of about seventeen years of age, glared furiously at the guards as he walked with the prisoners, one guard even crooking his finger at him. The teenager sneered, his body slowly healing from the beating he had received just two days earlier, bruises still patterning down the right side of his face. His blue eyes were full of hatred that was directed to the leering guards, as he joined the other inmates in the mess hall. Food was horrible and you had to force yourself to eat it, otherwise risk dying of starvation, but there was that risk of catching something potentially dangerous, not that it bothered the wardens at all. In fact, it was like they had done it on purpose, making it into a game to see who would die first of what. The young teenager had even overheard two guards crowing about how they had made a hundred dollars betting on a man who had died from stomach problems due to the food. It disgusted him how they made a mockery of the peoples' lives, viewing them as only cattle. Cattle for the slaughter, of which he was now a part of.

Brushing his short, clipped black hair over his eyes, the young teenager made his way over to the line, grabbing himself a tray and almost gagging at the foul-smelling gloop ladled almost carelessly upon the tray. With a sneer at the chef, who simply flipped him the bird while simultaneously picking his nose, the teenager moved away before the contents of the chef's nose was added to his dinner. Staring mistrustfully at the other inmates, some of which were looking to pick a fight with him for unknown reasons, the teenager located to a table that was away from the others and half-heartedly picked through the runny lumps called food. Somehow, he had managed to survive on this crap for the past thirteen days, ever since he was captured by the authority and sent here as a delinquent, which was how the police handled most cases involving underage adults. Since it was believed that he wouldn't last long, the teenager had been allowed to keep his standard clothing of a white wife-beater (no longer white, due to the dried blood stains and dirt), dark cargo pants and dark blue fingerless gloves, instead of the standard dirty blue prison overalls the other inmates wore, although he had received his own prison number. Not that it mattered to him.

Gagging on the small mouthful, the teenager brought his hand up to his neck, fingering the small red amulet, trying to think of better times when he was younger. It usually worked, helping him through the days, especially when he was beaten upon by the guards, who often did it to him and other inmates solely for their amusement.

One day, he would show them and he would see how much they liked it. He knew the truth about them, just like he knew the truth about the city, what really lay underneath.

Forcefully swallowing the second mouthful, the teenager noticed a large shadow falling over him and he looked up at prisoner 61147A, who was simply put, a very large man with anger problems. Unfortunately, his anger problems had been increased by the various 'treatments' he had been forced to undertake and now, he lashed out at everyone, including the guards, although he had been focused on the young teenager, ever since he first stepped through the doors of the facility.

"Big man, big nose," the teenager said, "Mind keeping it out of my business?"

"How is it a little shrimp like you hasn't died yet?" 61147A asked, "I've got a bet going on how long you'll last. You're making me look bad."

"You got a problem with it, you take it up with someone who cares, like the guards, because clearly, I don't give a shit."

The tray was smacked aside and the teenager was lifted up by his shirt, getting slammed on his back upon the tabletop, as the other inmates either crowded around or kept to themselves. It wasn't very often that a prisoner fought another prisoner, but it did happen and most of the time, the guards stood back and allowed it to happen, again for their amusement, only intervening when death seemed imminent.

"You have got quite the attitude," 61147A sneered, leaning close to the teenager.

"And you've got quite the bad breath," the teenager shot back, grimacing, "You often get this close and personal with your cellmates?"

"I know what you are," 61147A hissed close to his ear, "I've heard stories. To the guards, you're the biggest thing to enter this hellhole. To me, you're just an ant."

"You say you know what I am, huh?" the teenager taunted, "That'd make _you_ an ant."

The fist smashed into his face and blood smeared 61147A's fist, the teenager's vision blurry from the powerful blow. He struggled to resist the urge to black out, especially from the second blow that cause his left cheek to swell, as 61147A drew his fist back for another blow, his eyes wild with fury. The teenager smirked, before spitting a glob of blood into 61147A's eye. He staggered, furiously rubbing his eye, as the teenager hopped off the table, as if he was completely unaffected by the attack and he responded by sinking his fist into 61147A's stomach, literally knocking the air out of him. The older man wondered how a weedy boy could do this kind of damage to him so easily, as a second blow from the teenager to the larger man's face had him smacking face first onto the opposite table, knocking him out cold. The teenager was too caught up in his easy victory to notice the guards until they were upon him, stabbing him with their shock rods and he passed out from the overwhelming voltage.

When he awoke, the teenager found himself in a small, square room, chained by his wrists and ankles to the ceiling and floor, with nothing more than a glass panel opposite him. He chuckled, recognising this as one of the interrogations rooms. Day after day, he had been brought here, often against his will and while unconscious, as the doctors attempted to know more about him, including his name. And for the past thirteen days, the teenager had refused to divulge anything, finding some satisfaction in taunting the doctors, despite the beatings he received afterwards, but he knew they were reaching their breaking point with him and he was enjoying it.

"Patient number 64432B for interrogation," came the male, robotic voice, "Day thirteen of assessment. Shall we begin? What is your name?"

"Go fuck yourselves," the teenager chuckled.

He roared when an electrical current surged through him, burning through his recent injuries, figuratively setting them alive. When it was over, the teenager hung limp, a small grin on his face. Might as well toss them a bone, even it was just a small one.

"Again, what is your name!" the voice demanded, more frustrated than ever.

The teenager smirked, "My name is Dante."

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AN: If you liked, please review and let me know if this is worth continuing. I probably will anyway, but chapters might initially be a bit slow.


	2. Session with Dr Wiedman

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Day fifteen.

Dante laid on the bed, which was really a wooden plank chained to the wall, a cigarette in hand, which was one of the very few privileges inmates were allowed to have, even in solitary confinement. New bruises patterned his body, especially following the interrogation he had two days earlier. Even though he had given the doctors his first name, he had refused to give them anything else and one of the doctors came into the room in order to take a blood sample. Refusing, Dante had broken one of his chains and punched the doctor in the face, which swiftly resulted in a brutal beating. Later, after he'd regained consciousness, he learnt that the doctor's jaw was broken and Dante felt satisfaction at having been the one to do it. Maybe now, they would be reluctant to try again. Hopefully. He knew the doctors to be quite persistent, but maybe they'll leave him alone now for a while.

Vandalism was the reason he was here. That and evading the police. That was the official story on his report, but unofficially, Dante had been involved in a fight that caused some property damage (quite a fair bit actually) and while running from the police that were alerted to the situation, he had been shot no less than five times, with two bullets hitting him in the back and at least one in the chest, while his legs had also been shot in order to bring him down. Tasered multiple times, Dante was then arrested and after swiftly recovering from his wounds, was sentenced to the correctional facility. If only the authority knew what was going on in this city, he probably wouldn't be here. Unless they did know and were just getting him out of the way, but for what reason, he didn't know and he wanted to find out.

Just as he started to reach the end of his cigarette, Dante heard the sounds of his cell door being unlocked, as it swung open and two guards stood before him, both wearing sinister grins as their eyes flashed bright red. However, Dante ignored them like they weren't even there, continuing to smoke his cigarette instead.

"Time to party," one guard said, "You've got an appointment with Dr. Wiedman."

"Riveting," Dante replied in a bored tone, "Tell him to cancel."

"I think he really wants to see you," grinned the other guard.

The first guard drew his stun baton and grabbed Dante by the front of his shirt, but the teenager responded by jamming his cigarette into the guard's eye. He howled, falling back while clutching at his ruined eye, as the second guard swung his baton, cracking Dante across the jaw. He fell against the wall, the baton getting jammed into his back and delivering a current of high voltage into his system. Dante hissed, falling slump to the ground, a lazy grin on his face when he heard the guard screech about his eye.

Dante came to just as the guards finished strapping him into the chair, while receptors were placed upon his upper body and cheeks. Dr. Wiedman was a 'psychologist' who specialised in using electro-therapy to 'help' his patients. This was the first time Dante had ever been here, but he had heard stories of those who had been forced to undertake this therapy and they were never the same again, with some even becoming far more agitated and violent than before. Time to see what it would do to him.

The door swung open and Dr. Wiedman walked in, but this time, he was flanked by two people he had never seen before in this facility. One was a tall, intimidating man with a closely shaved head and dark onyx-blue eyes that held a menacing gleam. Other than that, his face held no emotion, while his suit looked very pristine and expensive, something very out of place of a filthy, corrupted facility. However, it was the woman who drew Dante's attention. She had sharp, angular facial features that made her hauntingly beautiful, which went perfect with her pale, slim, yet powerful figure and she was confidently showing off her curves in a figure hugging black leather dress that reached down to just past her thighs. She also wore a pair of fishnets and knee-high leather boots, as well as a large, white fur coat that came down to above her knees. Her short, platinum-blonde hair was perfectly slicked back, while her electric blue eyes found Dante and her full, blood-red lips turned into a sinister smirk.

"Mr. Dante, how are you feeling this morning?" Dr. Wiedman asked.

A weedy, snivelling man with greasy grey hair and overlarge, thick glasses, he made up for his physical limitations by being disturbing sadistic in his treatment of the patients, such as trying to see just how much voltage a person could take before all their internals shut down. Dante had seen the doctor around a few times, but scoffed at the thought that a mere doctor like Wiedman could even hurt him.

"Wooden plank was a little uncomfortable, guards are always such bitches and you remind me of a little rat that needs exterminating," Dante replied, "Other than that, I'm actually feeling good. Who's the muscle and hooker?"

"They're guests here to oversee this session. Can we begin?"

"Can I get a cigarette? If I'm gonna get fried, I wanna feel good first."

"Sorry, request denied," Wiedman said with a smile that Dante wanted to knock off.

"Well, sorry, but session denied unless I get a cigarette."

"You are not in any position to negotiate anything, Mr. Dante."

Dante shrugged, "Alright then. Guess I got no choice then."

Dr. Wiedman frowned, wondering if his prescription drugs were making him imagine that Dante's eyes had just flashed demonic red. But that was quickly forgotten when Dante snapped his restraints like they were rubber bands and he went to move, but the muscle was faster, pinning him back to the chair. Dante growled and went to shove the muscle's hand aside, but found to his surprise that he couldn't, while feeling an intense burning sensation pressing against his chest. Dante hissed in pain, smoke rising from between the muscle's fingers, as he stared at Dante like he was studying an insect. Dante couldn't understand why he couldn't move the man, as the orderlies managed to strap him back onto the chair and reattached the receptors.

"Begin the treatment!" Wiedman demanded.

Before Dante could react, the 'hooker' hit the switch that delivered the electrical current and Dante gritted his teeth as the voltage coursed through his body. However, despite the low level of the current, it was so intense that he was already starting to black out, blood spitting from his teeth, while his cells felt like they were frying. Ten seconds later, the current stopped, but for Dante, it felt like it had been hours. Blood dripped from his mouth as he hung limp against the restraints.

"Are we feeling co-operative?" Wiedman asked, getting right into Dante's face.

He responded by spitting a glob of blood into the doctor's eye. Wiedman stepped back, wiping the blood away with his stained handkerchief, as Dante grinned wildly.

"That's a pretty normal response."

"That they spit blood in your face or they refuse to co-operate?" Dante asked.

Wiedman signalled the 'hooker' and she flicked the switch again, but this time, Dante caught the flash of red between her hand and the switch, just at the voltage struck him once more. Just as he blacked out, he wondered if blacking out so many times in such a short time was any good for the brain. All he knew was that he was getting sick of it.

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Dr. Wiedman entered his small, dingy office, wanting to hide away from the guards who often made fun of his small stature, but found that it wasn't to be due to the visitors he had and he barely suppressed the groan of disappointment.

"You seem so happy to see us," the woman smirked seductively, "Rough day?"

She was quite beautiful, but her smile really unnerved him, which was really saying something considering his sadism, but her smile seemed to promise a death that she would greatly enjoy. Her partner, on the other hand, really made Wiedman nervous. The stoic, silent demeanour and an emotionless mask, like he was hiding a great, violent power beneath the exterior. But for all he knew, Wiedman believed the pair to be quite strange, even compared to the inmates. He didn't know exactly what they were here for, only that the owner of the facility had sent them here for the day to observe the proceedings and the owner had seemed quite interested in Dante's case.

"Yes, I guess you could say that," Wiedman said, shuffling to his desk and retrieving the cheap scotch and filling a glass, "So, what can I do for you now?"

"It seems like you're getting nowhere with Dante," the woman replied, getting to her feet, "Nearly sixteen days and all we know is his goddamn first name."

"He is quite resilient," Wiedman protested, "Even _my_ therapy didn't work."

"Maybe you should try a little fucking harder," the woman said with an edge to her tone, "His patience is wearing a little thin. How hard can it really be?"

"I don't know what else we could do. This Dante, he's not a normal case."

The woman narrowed her eyes dangerously and Wiedman gulped, forcing himself to look away. He was sure he caught a flash of his death in her eyes and he knew he had to whatever he could to prevent that from happening. Perhaps some grovelling?

"Look, please, we will keep trying if you like," Wiedman blubbered, "I am confident that we will get whatever answers you want out of him."

However, he saw that it was in vain when the woman sighed and instantly lost interest in what he was saying. Instead, she signalled her partner with a slight nod of her head and before Wiedman could do anything, her partner grabbed him by the top of his head. Wiedman began screaming when he felt an intense burning sensation within his skull, smoke curling from his ears, as the partner grinned and Wiedman's body then instantly burst into flames, swiftly burning away to a scorched carcass within seconds.

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	3. Escape from the Asylum

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Night had fallen and the lights out curfew had taken place, as the guards passed by the cells, making sure that the inmates were biding by the rules. Armed with semi-automatic rifles or shotguns, the guards went about their patrols. Several groups of three guards each heavily patrolled the perimeter of the facility, to ensure that no one broke out if they ever got this far. However, the guards were so focused on making sure that no one broke out that they didn't think about someone trying to break in.

Something flashed near the eastside fence, alerting the attention of a patrol group. They headed closer, the flashlights playing over the twenty-two-foot high, barbwire-rimmed fence, but found nothing there. All believing that it was simply their imagination, the group started to resume their patrol, as something struck them hard and fast, swiftly rendering all three guards unconscious.

The smoke filled the small space of the solitary confinement, choking the air, but not that Dante seemed to mind. He was just thankful that he was allowed to have a cigarette, otherwise, he'd just might go crazy from the small space he was forced to reside in. Thinking over the day's events, in particular his 'therapy' session with Dr. Wiedman and the two visitors the good doctor had with him. The two were unlike anyone or anything he had seen before and if anything, he was quite curious about them. He had heard they disappeared soon after the session, especially following Dr. Wiedman's sudden and mysterious death, something that he felt the miserable bastard had coming to him, but he probably didn't deserve to be incinerated like that.

Alarms began buzzing within the facility and Dante cocked an eyebrow in mild amusement, wondering who had broken out this time and how long before they were caught and hauled off. He knew that some guards would also take their time in capturing the escapee, often placing bets on how long it would take to catch the escapee. However, Dante's interest was piqued when he heard orders being shouted out, accompanied by gunfire being blasted throughout the building. Dante grounded out his cigarette, wanting to know what exactly was going on that causing the guards to react like this. The gunfire was getting closer to his cell, which could mean that someone had broken in instead of breaking out. Dante frowned at this possibility. Who in their right mind would ever want to break _into_ this facility?

The gunfire soon died down, as Dante tried to listen onto anything that could give him any indication of what was going on. Then, he heard the lock on his cell door clinking and the door swung open to reveal a young girl of about between ten and thirteen, with short blond hair, although it was shaved off on the left side of her head. She was wearing dirty white robes that allowed for great mobility, while a short sword rested on her back, as she looked at Dante with brown eyes and he cocked an eyebrow.

"So, who are you?" Dante asked, "And what do you want with me?"

"We don't have much time, we have to leave now. Come on."

"You didn't answer my question."

The girl grabbed Dante's arm, drawing out a syringe of blue liquid from within her robes. She then jammed the needle into Dante's arm, injecting him with the liquid, as he drew his arm back with a snarl, his eyes flashing red dangerously.

"What the fuck did you just fucking stick me with?"

He looked at his arm, seeing that the needle wound was gone and he was strangely feeling rejuvenated, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he could feel all his injuries being healed, power flowing through his body once more.

"We have to hurry," the girl said, "The formula only lasts a short while."

"Best get our shit together then," Dante said.

He left his cell, checking both ends of the corridors, before heading right as the girl followed after him. Almost instantly, he noticed that the walls seemed to be changing, shifting face and showing patterns that he had never seen before. He wondered if it was the formula the girl had just given him, but shook it off, knowing that his head was clear and that he had to focus on escaping the facility. But flashes of red paint kept mysteriously fading on and off the wall, but when Dante inhaled deeply, he realised that it wasn't paint, but human blood. And the pattern in which it had painted on looked like it was some kind of demonic spell, one that he didn't know.

"Come on, we have to hurry!" the girl cried.

"We have to hurry?" Dante said over his shoulder, "You're lagging behind."

Several guards came around the corner, raising their guns and Dante watched as the girl suddenly turned transparent, like she was a ghost and the guards opened fire. The bullets passed through the girl harmlessly, while Dante had to back around the corner to avoid the gunfire. Once it stopped, he darted back around, snatching the sword off the girl's back and rushing towards the guards in the blink of an eye. The blade sliced and slashed amongst the flickering lights, blood splattering the walls and floor, as Dante stood amongst the bodies, watching as black clouds rose from the hacked corpses, before dissipating before their eyes.

"Okay, let's get the hell out of here," Dante said, "Mind telling me your name?"

"It's Patty," the girl replied, running alongside him.

"Okay and any reason why you're busting me out of the cuckoo nest?"

"I'll tell you later. Let's just get out of here first."

"Fine, whatever you say…Patty."

The girl scowled at the tone he used with her name, as they came across the bodies she had dealt with earlier. Dante raised an eyebrow in surprise that a girl her age and size was capable of killing five demonic guards at once. Dropping by the bodies for a moment, Dante picked up a pair of handguns, checking the magazines before tucking them into the back of his belt, then grabbed a packet of cigarettes off another body.

"Can we hurry this up?" Patty demanded.

"Hold your horses, twerp," Dante said, "I got this addiction problem."

"Just do it later."

She grabbed his arm and dragged him through the hallways, as Dante's name began appearing on the walls in blood. He paused, watching as his name faded in and out on the walls, the lights flickering overhead, but he pressed on, bursting into the mess hall with Patty and they ran towards the kitchen for the exit, but to Patty's surprise, the door was gone, as if it had never existed at all, with the wall taking its place.

"Any reason why we're back here?" Dante asked, "Clearly, there's no exit."

"There was one here before," Patty protested, "It's how I came in. Where's it gone?"

"Well, it's not here, so we'll just to find another exit."

Heading back out into the mess hall, they were stopped by the lights flashing on and Dante looked up to the office that overlooked the mess hall. He could just make out three silhouettes inside the office, as the two on the outside stepped closer to the window and Dante recognised them as the hooker and the muscle.

"Missed you guys," he called out, "Where's the party?"

"The party is coming, Dante," said the middle, unknown person in a deep, masculine voice, "Unfortunately, you're not part of the guest list."

"And you're the host of the show? Why don't you show yourself?"

"How about you are kicked out of the party?"

The doors of the mess hall was smashed off its hinges, as a massive blob rolled into the hall and Dante could only describe it as a blob of humans all stitched together, a constant wailing surrounding the blob, as Dante recognised some of the humans as inmates who had tried to escape and he realised what had really happened to them. They had all been stitched together to form this monstrosity as an experiment.

"This is what you get up to?" Dante asked, "You create monster balls?"

Numerous hands grabbed hold of a steel table and hurled it straight at Dante and Patty like it was paper. The latter dived out of the way, while the former leapt nimbly onto a nearby table, drawing the handguns and began firing away at the monstrosity, aiming for headshots, taking out several of the victims with perfect, single shots. There was a roar echoing from within and the ball rolled towards Dante with surprising speed, crushing the steel tables easily beneath its large weight, as Dante leapt off his table, twisting his body in mid-air while shooting at the victims, still able to strike the heads, even while upside down. Twisting over once more, Dante drew the sword and dropped down, slicing off several arms before landing. A number of feet lashed out at once, but Dante blocked with the flat of the blade, taking a few steps back to maintain his balance, then grinned and darted forth, the blade slicing in deep.

Drawing back, Dante sliced upwards, putting all his strength behind the blow and managing to actually send the monstrosity into the air, before darting into its shadow and spinning his body around like a tornado while firing the handguns, bullets hitting their targets with perfect precision. Tossing the empty guns aside, Dante drew the sword and leapt up amongst the bodies, blood raining down on the floor, as the bodies were hacked apart from each other and a bloodied Dante landed with a wild grin, looking up at the office. Flipping the bird, he left the mess hall with Patty, soon making their way towards the main doors, as Dante stopped by a cupboard.

"What are you doing now?" Patty demanded.

"Collecting my effects," Dante replied, opening the cupboard.

He drew out a three-quarter dark navy grey duster with a red collar and a Union Jack sewn onto the left upper sleeve. With a grin, he threw the duster on, before leaving the facility with Patty, while back in the office, the unknown sat down on his wingchair.

"Trish, Phantom, I want to bring him back, dead or alive."

"As you wish, sir," Trish replied with a smile.

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AN: If Dante's getting a reboot, why not Trish? And Patty for that instance...


	4. Getting Back into Action

AN: I've got a bit of a different story for Patty here which I hope makes sense. And thanks for all the reviews.

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"So, going to start telling me your story?" Dante asked.

They were currently staying at a small, dingy apartment that was more like a two star lodgings, but considering the lack of personal effects, he figured that it was really a very temporary stay for Patty. She was currently checking the perimeters, while Dante was lazily leaning against the wall while smoking a cigarette, interested in what she had to say, especially why she had broken him specifically out of the asylum. Not that he wasn't glad to be out of there, but he wanted to know why.

"Understandably, you've heard the stories about the Dark Knight Sparda?" Patty said.

"Yeah and aren't they just a complete bore fest?" Dante retorted, "What has it got to do with me?"

Patty gave him an incredulous look, "Your father sacrificed a lot to save the human world from the demons, including his own immense power."

"Okay, thanks for getting me out, but it's time for me to go now."

"No, wait," Patty cried, "Listen to me. It wasn't just your father who gave up his power to separate the worlds, but your mother helped as well. And she put various enchantments to ensure the protection, one of which was me."

"Please start explaining and do it nice and slow. That'd be very helpful."

"Are you always such a jerk like this?"

Dante shrugged carelessly, "Mostly. Please continue."

Patty sighed, "Their power went into a chest that acts as a key and it was hidden away. If the chest is threatened to be found by evil forces, I am to rise and find a descendant of Sparda who can help protect the chest."

"Sooo, you're being threatened? That's nice, but doesn't make it my problem."

"Dante, I may be strong, but I am no match for whoever is searching for Pandora's Box. That's the name of the chest," she explained to Dante's confused look, "Whoever obtains the chest will receive Sparda and Eva's powers."

"And whoever has that would be one of the most powerful beings around," Dante said, "Yadda, yadda, yadda, so what? I'm not interested."

"Why do you not care?" Patty asked, "I thought as Sparda's son, you would-"

"Listen, I don't care about _daddy's_ legacy. He was a bit of a cold bastard to me. The only thing I'm interested in is killing demons."

"Well, this entire city is full of demons. It's wallowing in despair and corruption. Perhaps by killing some demons, you might be able to help this city."

"Don't be making it sound all heroic," Dante said, "I do it just for fun. This whole city honestly could burn to the ground for all I care."

"Well, alright then. If that's all that matters to you," Patty said, "I did bring a few things for you, one of which is something from your parents."

She moved to the wardrobe, drawing out a pair of unique handguns, one black, the other white and a smile came to Dante's face when he saw his beloved handguns that he had crafted himself. Christened Ebony and Ivory, they were built to be rapid firing and powerful, with the grips modelled perfectly for his hands only and there was some spell-like carvings in the barrels that allowed for an unlimited amount of ammunition and in Dante's opinion, they were the best weapons in demon slaying. He had assumed that the authority had taken them following his arrest, but he was just happy to see them once more and in his hands again. Clipping the holsters onto the back of his belt, Dante looked up to see Patty draw a large, strange-looking broadsword out of the wardrobe next.

"I've never seen that one before," Dante admitted.

"This is a weapon that was created by your father and infused with the power of both your heritage," Patty explained, "It's for you. It's called Rebellion. Seems to fit."

Dante reached out and grasped the handle, feeling the power coursing throughout the weapon and it felt like he and this sword were one and the same, like they were kindred spirits and belonged together. With a sly smirk, mentally thanking his father (a first for Dante), he sheathed the sword on his back, eager to test it out.

"So, question, what was that thing you hit me with?" Dante asked.

"An angelic antidote. Instantly heals every injury, rejuvenates you and also makes you temporarily immune to demonic spells. Very hard to make."

"Ah, that explains why I could get beaten down so easily. Whoever owns the joint knows what I am and put security measures in place to hold me there."

"Yes, I imagine so," Patty said, "Now, it's been a while since you were in action, so you might be out of practice in terms of fighting demons."

Dante cocked an eyebrow, "I highly doubt that."

She shot him a slight smile, "I doubt that. But, I have to go now."

"Wait, what? What do you mean you've got to go?" Dante asked.

"I can only come out for a short amount of time," Patty replied, "Then, I have to return to the Box. It's a counter thing. If I was out too long and got caught, they'd be able to find the Box. Now go, kill some demons."

†††††††††††

The sun was hiding behind a large dark cloud, as several Marionettes played in the streets of Limbo City. Humanoid with black and white checked skin, they could be mistaken for clowns or jesters, if it wasn't for the giant blade attached to their right wrists and running up the full length of their arm to at least head height. With Dante free from the asylum, they had been ordered to draw him out and this particular group were hanging out in one of the many public courtyards, a place where not many civilians passed through due to numerous daylight and night murders that had taken place, much like the other streets of the 19th century architecture city.

Dante entered the courtyard, Ebony and Ivory in hand as he approached the demons. A Marionette took note of Dante and leapt at him, swinging its blade sword, but two bullets through the head shattered the skull like a bloody balloon and the body crumpled into black mist without even touching the ground.

"So, who's next?" Dante smirked.

The Marionettes looked at each other, seemingly communicating amongst themselves, as two Marionettes leapt through the air, spinning their bodies like bladed tornadoes, as Dante drew Rebellion and channelling its power, transformed the blade into a spine-like, sharp-tipped whip that stabbed into one of the spinning Marionettes, snatching it out of mid-air. The whip turning back into a blade and Dante hacked into the Marionette, as a second came rushing in from behind. Pulling off a high backflip, Dante sailed over the second Marionette, seamlessly switching from Rebellion to Ebony and Ivory, as he blasted the first Marionette with bullets, bursting it into mist. Using the whip, Dante pulled a Marionette up to him and while still in mid-air, he attacked the demon, Rebellion transforming into a large, angelic scythe and ripping through the demon. Dante spun his body like a vortex, the scythe tearing the Marionette to pieces. The other three moved under Dante, helplessly watching, but ready to attack him as soon as his feet touched the ground.

A grin appeared and the scythe then transformed into a huge, fiery demonic battle-axe, as Dante came falling down and slammed the axe into the ground with such force that all three demons were blasted into the air by the shockwave. Bullets tore through all three Marionettes, helpless to the slaughter, as they were all caught by the scythe and slammed back into the ground. Dante stepped down on the nearest Marionette, blasting bullets into its back, before kicking the demon up into the air before him and performing a forward dashing impalement movement he'd like to call the Stinger. The remaining two Marionettes picked themselves up, before coming in at the same time, moving like spinning tops as they approached Dante from different angles. Leaping over the pair, Dante flipped upside down, then spun around like a tornado, unleashing a hail of bullets that rained down upon the demons, blasting one into black mist, as Dante landed and deflected the Marionette's blade, before impaling it through the chest. Gripping the hilt with both hands, Dante brought Rebellion upwards, slicing the Marionette in half from the waist up, as its body burst into black mist.

"Out of practice? What the fuck was she thinking?" Dante said, lighting a cigarette.

The air moved behind him and he ducked, as the blade sailed overhead. Turning around, Dante wrapped one arm around the Marionette's throat, his other hand catching the demon's blade wrist and snapping it, as the air shimmered and five more Marionettes dropped out before Dante. Blowing a stream of smoke, Dante grinned sadistically and pressed the lit end of the cigarette into his hostage's temple. The Marionette squirmed against the burning pain, as Dante pressed harder, before shoving the Marionette to its knees, then shooting it in the back of the head with Ebony. It burst into mist, as Dante then drew Rebellion, resting the tip on the ground.

"Come on, ladies, who's gonna be first?" he taunted.

They began to approach, but stopped when a car came down into the courtyard. The driver slammed on the brakes when he saw the scene before him and he quickly hopped out of the car and ran away, as Dante grinned. Using the whip, he impaled the car through the passenger door, before hurling it over his head, instantly crushing three Marionettes beneath the vehicle, turning them to dust, as the other two came at him. Leaping over one Marionette, Dante blasted it with Ebony and Ivory, the last bullet shattering the demon's skull, as the last demon lunged for him, slashing its large blade. Parrying the blow, Dante sliced it in half at the waist with the battle-axe, before sheathing Rebellion over his left shoulder and leaving the courtyard.

†††††††††††


	5. At the Fairgrounds

†††††††††††

The Limbo City Fairground.

It used to be a very popular place to go for families and young couples, but due to the increasing number of drug running, murders and robberies that took place even during the day, it was no surprise that attendance levels were at an all-time low. Dante stood at the ticket booth, staring at the now derelict fairground, the rickety Ferris wheel slowly creaking in time with the breeze. When it used to be in full swing, Dante used to come here with his mother and twin brother and he could remember the good times he had, the memories of when he could just be a little boy. But now, this source of his childhood happiness, just like the city and his life, had been affected by demons.

_"No point stalling. Time to have a little fun."_

He entered the park, but had only taken three steps when the entire ground began to vibrate. Spikes of black liquid-like mist appeared in the fairground's main gateway, while also appearing around the ticket booth, trapping him within the area. Creatures began bursting out of the ground, swarming around Dante. Nonchalant, he simply lit up a cigarette, as one of the demons reared up before him. Basically, it had the body of a giant caterpillar, but with the horror-stricken face of a human and instead of legs, it had multiple human arms used to carry its large mass around.

"Aren't you a cute little fetish fuck?" Dante said, "Come here little fetish."

The Fetish scurried towards him, but he whipped around his handguns, blasting bullets through the demon, black blood splattering the ground as the Fetish howled. As a second came in from the side, Dante ensnared a third Fetish with the whip, before pulling himself towards the demon, as Rebellion became the axe and Dante ripped into the Fetish, leaving fiery slashes in the dirt as the demon was hacked into multiple pieces, black mist escaping into the air. Twirling his handguns around, Dante began impaling another Fetish with rapidly fired bullets, barely even giving it a chance to move as the rounds continued to hammer its body. Ebony and Ivory began glowing demonic red, as the next bullet fired from both guns caused the demon's body to burst open, as the air rippled and several Marionettes appeared.

"Oh good, I was starting to get a little bored. Think you shitheads can help?"

One of the Fetishes opened its mouth and fired twin streams of white liquid that Dante managed to dodge and he realised that it was some kind of acidic webbing. While he was still in mid-air, three Marionettes leapt up at him, as he pulled one close and attacked it with the scythe, the other two demons getting caught in the path, as Dante hooked them all within the blade, which transformed into the axe and Dante smashed all three demons into the ground, setting their bodies ablaze while tearing a long gouge in the ground. Landing, Dante charged his guns and fired twin bullets that ricocheted amongst all the Marionettes, killing the previously attacked demons. A Fetish came rushing in from behind, unleashing a sonic boom from its mouth, but Dante leapt over the wave, Rebellion impaling through the demon's head.

"Eeny, meeny, miney, mo!"

Hooking a broken Marionette with the whip, Dante then smashed the demon into the ticket booth, destroying both the booth and demon, as he then sliced upwards on a Fetish, exposing its underbelly and he sliced into its body, before performing multiple (at least ten strikes), rapid impalements, all within the blink of the human eye. Dante finished off with a wide, sweeping slash that sliced the Fetish in half. Sheathing Rebellion, he saw that he still had two Marionettes and a single Fetish to deal with. A grin appeared and he eagerly leapt into battle, Rebellion and bullets slicing through the air, until the demons were dead and the spikes disappeared, allowing Dante to venture into the fairgrounds. He looked around at all the empty rides, before spotting something near the multiple food stands. If a giant blob of fat had been given life, limbs and a large, ravenous mouth, this is what it would look like, with the demon diving into the stands to gorge on whatever food was left there, no matter the condition. Dante drew closer to the demon, sniffing as a foul smell emanating from the demon assaulted his nostrils.

"Hey, chuppa bub, get your stinking ass over here."

The demon drew itself out of the stand and turned towards Dante, sniffing the air, then let out a huge, ferocious bellow, as Dante drew Rebellion and headed towards the demon. As they approached each other, the Glutton demon suddenly hurled something foul towards Dante and he leapt out of the way, as the projectile melted into nothing.

"What the fuck was that shit?" Dante demanded.

Rebellion glowed, as he unleashed three blades of energy from his sword in quick succession. The energy slammed into the demon, driving it back a few steps, but the wounds caused by the attack healed over, as Dante fired away with his handguns, only for the bullets to be absorbed by the Glutton and belched out back at him. Rolling to his left, Dante stabbed a stall with Rebellion, as the sword transformed into the whip and he smashed it upon the demon. It roared, charging through the wreckage, as Dante leapt into the air, unleashing a hailstorm of bullets, as another projectile came flying at him. Doing a mid-air dash to his right, Dante pulled himself closer to the demon and began hacking away with the axe, actually causing some lasting damage, least until the Glutton was able to belt him aside with a simple backhand. Dante flipped over from the blow, landing on his feet, as bullets were vomited towards him.

"Alright fatty, let's put you down for good," Dante said, watching the wounds heal.

Spying the rollercoaster, Dante whistled to the Glutton, which had started foraging for food again and upon catching the demon's attention, he headed towards the ride, while occasionally shooting the demon to keep it chasing after him. Once he neared the ride, Dante impaled the Glutton with the whip, using all his strength to yank it onto the tracks, then just as quick, he ensnared the cars and pulled it down onto the demon, exploding it into a foul-smelling, thick liquid.

"Now that that's out of the way."

Eager to get away from the stench, Dante headed towards the Ferris wheel, keeping an eye out for any more demons, especially for the Gluttons, not liking the idea of what would happen if he had to face more than one at once. As he neared the wheel, the air seemed to ripple above the giant ride, creating a large portal that deposited a gigantic demonic spider that came crashlanding before Dante. Its gargantuan size easily dwarfed Dante, who could compare his height to the same size of the demon's eye-tooth. Not that its huge size was any bother to Dante. He simply lit up a cigarette.

"Hey, fugly, down here," he called, "You mind getting out of my way?"

"So you're the one I've been summoned to kill," Moloch growled.

"No, I'm the one you've been summoned to provide entertainment for."

Several Gluttons and Marionettes appeared behind Dante, as he grinned.

"So, let's start this hell party."

Drawing Rebellion, Dante whirled around and sliced a Marionette in half, as Moloch brought his front leg down with speed that was surprising for his size. Dante leapt out of the way, two Gluttons getting crushed beneath the weight, as a Marionette was yanked through the air and viciously assailed upon. The demon burst into mist, as Dante shot forth through the air to avoid the projectile fired at him from a Glutton, as Moloch slashed at him. Hitting the ground, Dante pushed off from the bounce to land on his feet, as Moloch unleashed a massive beam of white energy that slammed into Dante, completely engulfing him and destroying most of the fairground with the blast.

Dante rose up from the hole he had been buried in, crackles of power surrounding him, his hair having turned completely snow-white, his eyes now demonic red, while his coat had also turned bright red. A grin on his face, Dante moved, fuelled by the angelic blood in his demonic veins, as the demons were torn apart in a matter of seconds, while Moloch was impaled in the chin by the whip, as Dante slammed his head against the ground, opening his massive mouth. Stunned by the move, Moloch then felt Dante dive inside, running down his throat and into his stomach. There, Dante began hacking and slashing from within with sword, scythe and axe, before bursting out through one of Moloch's eyes. He roared, staggering around the place, as Dante drew his handguns and fired two charged bullets that slammed into two more of Moloch's eyes, before detonating and destroying half of Moloch's head.

"I think you look better like that now."

Roaring, Moloch unleashed another energy blast, as Dante countered with one of his own fired off Rebellion's blade that sliced straight through the blast, fizzing it out, then sliced the remainder of Moloch's head in half. The giant body collapsed, slowly burning away to nothing, as Dante resumed his normal form.

"That was quite some show," called out a feminine voice.

Dante turned around, seeing the 'hooker' standing on one of the carriages.

"I don't think we got properly introduced last time," Dante said.

She smiled, "If you like, you can call me Trish. Unless you prefer hooker."

"Trish it is. So, tell me, what's your story, hooker?"

"Aw, now if I told you, it won't be quite so fun, would it now?" Trish said, "Although, I am meant to bring you in, dead or alive."

Dante smirked, then fired two shots from his handguns. The bullets ricocheted off a destroyed stall at different points, so that they struck the supports of the Ferris wheel, causing it roll away and crash, Trish letting out a short scream as she disappeared amongst the wreckage, while Dante turned and left the destroyed fairground.

†††††††††††


	6. Dancing in the Streets

AN: Yes, this Trish is the same Trish from the games, just given a different appearance and somewhat personality, much like Dante.

†††††††††††

The full moon hung in the blank sky, while Dante was lying on a gargoyle on one of the several high-rose buildings in the city, smoking a cigarette. He thought back to when he tapped into his angelic power in order to withstand Moloch's attack. He always knew he had power like that contained within himself, but had never thought much about utilising it, as he was able to get by on his current natural abilities. Just as he blew out a stream of smoke, a spotlight suddenly appeared over him. The police helicopter hovered nearby, as Dante leapt off the gargoyle, narrowly dodging the bullets fired at him, as he dived towards the ground thirty storeys away. Flipping over, he landed on his feet, as police cars showed up, red and blue lights playing all over the surrounding buildings, as Dante quickly took off with officers hot on his trail.

"Stop right there!" an officer cried.

_"Yeah, like fuck that's gonna happen."_

With great agility, Dante raced through the streets of Limbo City, swiftly putting a large distance between himself and the pursuing officers, as the helicopter zoomed overhead, its spotlight catching hold of Dante. Bullets rained down into the alley he was running through, clipping at his heels and he tapped into his angelic power, transforming once more and moving so fast that the pilot could barely see him. The pilot called for back-up and they soon arrived, coming down from the opposite end of the street towards Dante, as he leapt over the blockade, swiftly disappearing from sight. The spotlight played over the streets and alleys, trying to find Dante, but he was nowhere to be found, while Dante was hiding behind a ventilator shaft atop an apartment block, watching as the helicopter circled nearby. Now back in his normal form, he grinned and slipped away, diving off the building and disappearing.

†††††††††††

Dante hated the authority. They often interfered, arresting him for vandalism and throwing him into juvie, while calling him a problem child and a nuisance to the public. Just because he wasn't like his quiet, law-abiding blockhead of a brother. Sure, the police could say that they were doing their job, but in Dante's opinion, they were getting in his way while he battled demons, hindering the war he waged upon them. It was like the police force was paid by the demons to constantly annoy him. Well, it worked and now, Dante had no respect anyone in the blue uniform. They were too focused on catching him rather than actually doing their job. Corrupted, the lot of them. Which really made Dante wonder why he was bothering to even try and save this city. The whole of Limbo City was wallowing in such despair that it was too late to save it. He figured that it was something to do with his mother's good nature, with it rubbing off on him when he was a child, before she was taken from him…

Strolling through the streets of Limbo City, Dante kept an eye out for any police officers, knowing that _if_ he was caught, it would be back to the correctional facility, back to the place where he would be powerless and subjected to intense torture once more. He had been able to hide out in Patty's apartment until the morning, when he had gotten bored and decided to go out, not giving a damn about the authority. However, it probably didn't help that he was walking through the streets with a broadsword on his back, although, the civilians didn't seem to care, walking alongside him as if he wasn't heavily armed, too wrapped up in their own problems to notice.

Coming out onto a heavily populated main street, Dante noticed a video camera position on the top of a building, as it rotated in his direction and seemed to stop. Dante kept walking, trying to ignore the fact that the camera seemed to be following, but he took notice when the camera transformed into a single, bloody-red eye and at once, the world changed around him. The civilians all suddenly disappeared, as the buildings became warped, shifting and changing shape with edges jutting out everywhere, as energy gates appeared on every exit, trapping Dante on the street. Marionettes appeared, stretching their limbs, while demonic birds circled overhead. While about the size of a large eagle, their long claws, sharp beaks and wings and tails of fire set them apart from ordinary birds. Dante sneered at the sight of the Puias, hating those demons as they had often caused some trouble for him, as they were half the reason he had numerous vandalism charges on his rap sheet.

"Wow, you bitches really want me bad, huh?" Dante said, drawing Rebellion, "It's just good that Rebellion here wants you as bad as you want me. Well, let's dance."

He let rip with an energy wave that shredded a Marionette apart, as the scythe ripped into another Marionette, before launching it into the air. Dante followed the demon, Rebellion spinning around like a propeller, as Dante brought his sword down overhead, slamming the demon into the ground. Feather-like fireballs came shooting his way, but Dante dashed through the air, using the whip to pull a Puia close in, as he then hurled the demonic bird into a Marionette, taking them both down. Finally landing on the ground, Dante parried a Marionette's blade and impaled the demon through the back, as energy gathered on the blade and Dante ripped his sword upwards, turning the Marionette to dust, as he fired the energy at a Puia, bisecting it.

Fire rained down towards Dante, but he acrobatically flipped out of the way, drawing out Ebony and Ivory as he landed his final flip and began shooting rounds through the Marionettes. More fireballs came screaming for Dante, as a Puia dived and slashed with its talons. Leaping out of the way while spinning through the air, Dante stabbed the diving Puia through the face, before flying down towards the Marionettes, landing amongst them. Drawing his handguns, Dante shot at them, including the Marionette behind him without even looking, as several fireballs came flying down. Rolling out of the way, Dante attacked a Marionette from behind with Rebellion, as he slammed the axe into the ground and launched the surrounding demons into the air. With a lick of his lips, Dante activated his Angel Trigger and leapt up into the centre of the Marionettes, scythe-Rebellion slicing through the air, as Dante dashed away and spied the last Puia about to fire feathers at him. Catching it with the whip, he hurled the demon into the Marionettes, as the feathers were fired and a small explosion erupted, with nothing more than black mist falling through the air.

Landing, Dante resumed his normal form, before looking at the demonic camera and he made his way to a high position on one of the numerous ledges, where he was able to use the whip to pull the eye out from its holding and he kicked it into the wall, where it splattered with a satisfying sound. Smiling, Dante watched as the world around him was returned back to normal and he fell down amongst the civilians, none of who were startled by his sudden appearance. Guess they really don't care. However, Dante wasn't given long to celebrate his victory, as he quickly saw that the fight had only been a distraction to allow the police time to hone in on his location.

"Oh, for fuck sake," Dante growled, "Come on, chase me. Let's have some fun."

Two officers pointed him out and he took off, shoving through the civilians, as the police gave chase, sirens filling the air. Ducking into a underground car park, Dante fired a few shots to keep the cops back, but a police cruiser came racing in from the other side. Drawing Rebellion, Dante swung the axe upwards into the ceiling, ripping out a huge chunk of concrete and he leapt up into the hole he had made, entering the building and he began racing up the stairs past the offices, scaring most of the workers he ran past, as he heard a familiar sound and saw a helicopter hovering outside. With a growl, Dante charged into an office and dived out through the window, falling towards the road. The helicopter gunner was lining Dante up with his rifle, but the hybrid suddenly pushed off the building wall, launching himself across the air, disorientating the gunner. With another burst of energy, Dante used the whip to pull himself towards the roof of another tall building, as the helicopter chased after him. Reaching the rooftop, Dante ran to the opposite side, standing on the edge and facing the helicopter as it hovered before him, the machine gun trained upon him.

"Surrender now or we will open fire," the pilot spoke via the megaphone.

"Ha, yeah right! You're just itching to blast me!" Dante sneered.

Flipping the bird with both hands, he grinned and fell backwards off the building. The pilot flew the helicopter after him, but he had already leapt away to a lower building roof, his agility and speed enabling him to keep ahead of the helicopter as it pursued him. Whooping loudly, Dante leapt off the side of an apartment block, spinning through the air as he dived into an alley, using the whip to launch himself through the air and over the rooftop, the helicopter soon flying off in the opposite direction. With a smile to himself over having evaded the police once more, Dante re-entered the streets, walking with the crowd and disappearing amongst the civilians.

†††††††††††

In a plush office in one of the more richer sections of Limbo City, a young man stood at the window, a glass of whiskey in hand as he stared at the slums of the city with disgust. He was tall and lean, with shaggy black hair that hung over his blue eyes, giving him a rugged handsome look. He wore a dark blue business shirt, a pair of black slacks and a black vest, a long skull-topped cane in hand.

"Dante, you young fool," Vergil said, "What do you hope to achieve?"

†††††††††††


	7. Run, Dante, Run

†††††††††††

"Over here."

Dante paused, wondering if he was imagining things, when he heard it again and he made his way through the crowd towards the voice. His hand was on Ivory, in case it was a threat, but he let out a small sigh of relief when he saw it was just Patty. However, he saw that she was transparent and he looked around for the threat.

"Why you all Casper-like?" Dante asked.

"I'm an astral projection. They're getting close and I can't leave," Patty said, "I need your help. I can't let them capture me, even like this."

"What, they can get you even if you're Little Miss Ghost?"

Patty nodded and Dante sighed, "Right, well, who's 'they'?"

"I-I don't know. There is one person who you could ask, but I don't think you would like this. There is your brother-"

"My brother's dead," Dante growled, "Has been for two years and-"

"He's not dead," Patty insisted, "He's here, alive in this very city."

"Great. So where do I find him then?"

Patty was about to answer, but the entire street began quaking and Dante looked out at the fearful civilians, before turning back to Patty, as she began fading in and out.

"They're coming, Dante. You've gotta run, now!"

She disappeared, as the civilians all suddenly vanished and Dante found himself standing within the warped and twisted version of Limbo City once more, only this time, the world felt darker, as a massive black cloud filled the sky.

"What the fuck?" Dante wondered.

Three beams of red energy suddenly shot down at such speed that Dante barely had time to react and when he did, he felt a burning sensation in his left arm from where one of the beams had skimmed him. With a small growl, Dante turned and took off through the transformed streets, hating how he was running away like a coward, as sections of the road suddenly fell away to reveal a gaping, dark chasm. Dante didn't want to know what lay at the bottom, waiting for him and he was able to dash over the chasm in time, as flashes of light appeared on the dark building walls. As he ran along, Dante saw his name appearing on the streets and walls, as the road collapsed beneath him, while at the same time, a huge chunk of mortar came screaming out at him from a building. Pushing off the block, Dante was able to sail over the chasm and continue running, as a bolt of energy struck at his heels.

Ebony and Ivory blasted bullets at the cloud, having no effect, as spikes of energy began shooting up from the ground, trying to impale Dante, but he was able to dart around them and headed towards another street, but that was suddenly blocked off by a web of energy, forcing Dante to duck down into another, smaller street. The world continued to shift around him, buildings rising higher or lower, as gaps began appearing and taking his chances, Dante raced into one such gap, moving through the underground car park. His name was still appearing on the walls, along with alternating blue and red flashes of light, as Dante looked over his shoulder, unable to see the black cloud or any police cruisers, but he wasn't stopping and pushed himself harder, just as the building rumbled and concrete fell around him.

_"Is this whole goddamn city trying to kill me now? That'd be fucking perfect."_

Darting around the larger chunks of concrete, Dante started to feel dizzy, like the air was toxic and having an affect on him, just as he narrowly avoided a large block that would have surely crushed him. The exit suddenly appeared and Dante pushed on towards it, despite the overwhelming feeling of nausea and in an effort to counteract the effects, he Angel Triggered, instantly feeling relieved once more, only to find himself standing in a garden courtyard. There appeared to be no exit, not even the one he had come out of, as he saw that he wasn't alone in the courtyard.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Dante smirked.

Several Marionettes and Fetishes littered the garden beds, while in the centre of the courtyard, stood a demon of at least eight feet tall, adorned in heavy, spiked black armour, a large broadsword in one hand and twin chained maces in the other. The Dullahan pointed its sword at Dante, as the lesser demons moved towards him and he drew Rebellion, leaping out of the way when the maces smashed into his previous positions, giant spikes of ice bursting up from the weapon, as it was then retracted.

"Okay, gotta watch out for that one."

Sling-shooting towards a Fetish, Dante slammed Rebellion onto its head, before spinning around completely several times, the axe tearing fiery chunks out of the demon, with the final overhead slam destroying the demon's body, as two Marionettes came spinning down from the air. Dashing out of the way when they landed, Dante then did a backflip over the maces that came swinging around, the two Marionettes getting struck instead, as Dante fired at the Dullahan. However, it had stabbed its sword into the ground, creating a shield of icicles that the bullets chipped away at.

Landing, Dante rolled away from two spinning Marionettes, then dodged a web stream from a Fetish, as another Marionette fired two blade shards at him. He shot them aside, as the Fetish squealed and unleashed a sonic boom. Darting out of the way, Dante dodged the maces once more, before dragging a Marionette in and attacking it with the scythe, a streak of blue flames following the blade, not leaving damage on the demon's body, but instead, striking down to its very soul, destroying it from the inside out, as the Fetish had a vortex of bullets blasted into the top of its head. The Dullahan struck the ground with its sword, creating a wave of icicles that Dante pulled a Marionette in front of, grinning as the demon was impaled.

"Alright, big boy, show me what you got," Dante smirked.

Shooting a Marionette in the head, he dashed towards the Dullahan, leaping over the sweeping broadsword and firing away with Ebony and Ivory, the bullets punching dents in the demon's armour. Stunned, the Dullahan attempted a chop attack, as Dante floated away and brought the axe crashing down overhead. All the heavy armour shattered, revealing the Dullahan's weak, purple flesh restrained by streamline black armour, as it drew a second sword from its back and moved with blinding speed. Dante dodged the twin blades just in time, losing a strand of hair and he leapt backwards, shooting once more, except that the Dullahan was able to shield itself in time with a barrier of ice. Landing, Dante ducked a Marionette's blade and sliced the demon in half, then launched a blade of energy from Rebellion, destroying a Fetish, as a Marionette came spinning in from behind. Parrying the blow, Dante rolled away when the Dullahan suddenly dashed forward, ice shards flying through the air as the Marionette was sliced into three parts and the Dullahan turned towards Dante.

"Come on," Dante clapped his hands like he was talking to a puppy.

The Dullahan dashed forth again, twin swords slicing through the air and leaving behind a trail of ice shards, as Dante spun around from behind the Dullahan, slamming the axe blade into the demon's right shoulder and tearing its arm off. The Dullahan dropped its other sword, clutching at its ruined shoulder, as Dante tripped it up with the scythe, then stepped on the demon's head, holding Ebony to its helmet.

"Tell me where Vergil is," Dante said, "Where's my brother?"

†††††††††††

Even in Limbo City, there is a rich district, grown by the corrupted and greedy who sought to exploits others for their own personal gains, all wanting a bigger slice of the pie and showing off their wealth to the less fortunate. Surely, if they all pooled their money together, they could help the economy of the city and really improve it, helping those who struggled to get by each day, but their greed was too great and no matter how much more they sought, their greed could never be sated. Their wealth rose above the lesser developed areas of Limbo City for all to see, their arrogance showing just how much the wealth and greed controlled their lives.

Dante sneered at the sight of the skyscrapers where the rich resided and conducted their business. He never had any respect for anyone who squandered their lives on wealth, while looking down on those less fortunate. Growing up may have been a little tough for Dante, but his mother had always been able to provide for him and his brother through modest means, not like that mattered to the wealthy. And his mother always told him that there was hope for everyone, including the bad people.

_"Not always the case, Mother,"_ Dante thought, lighting a cigarette.

He headed towards the building where the Dullahan had told him Vergil would be residing and almost instantly, he was met with a humanoid, winged feminine demon, while feeling the slight bonds of magic in the air. The demon swooped, slashing with her twin swords, as Dante leapt out of the way, shooting with his handguns, but she blocked the bullets with her sword, before flying at him once more. Dashing out of the way, Dante ensnared her with the whip and yanked her close, before assailing her with the scythe, but it didn't seem to be doing any damage, as the demon kicked him away. Bouncing up onto his feet, Dante dodged the energy spear fired at him, before sling-shooting towards the demon and this time, he attacked with the axe. The demon screeched as the weapon sliced into her body, as Dante finished her off with a mid-air Stinger and her body burst apart in a flash of white light. Landing, Dante found the building and made his way up the stairs, finally locating the office after asking a few questions. With a heavy sigh, Dante smashed the door off its hinges with a single kick, entering the office to see his twin brother at the desk.

"Hey there, Vergil," Dante smirked, "It's been a while."

†††††††††††


	8. A Brotherly Feud

†††††††††††

"Dante," Vergil said coolly, "This is quite the surprise."

"Spare me the sentiments," Dante said, looking around the office, "You've done well for yourself, bro. Never thought about helping your family out, huh?"

"With a family like ours, I had to strike out on my own, pave my own path."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, save it. Tell me, if you've been here this whole time, why did you leave me in the asylum? Surely, with your power and connections, from what I understand just looking around, you could have gotten me out."

Vergil fixed his brother with a bored look, before getting up from his chair, throwing his coat on and grabbed his cane, then moved around to the front of the desk, as Dante flopped down onto an armchair, Ivory lying on the armrest, his finger residing on the trigger. The twins might have been close while they were children, but following their mother's death, they had grown apart until Vergil's supposed death and Dante had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to trust his brother, hence the handgun.

"You seemed to have gotten yourself out just fine," Vergil commented, "Seems like you didn't need my help after all."

"Let's just cut the bullshit," Dante said, "What the fuck are you doing anyway?"

"Rising above the dredges of humanity, little brother. There is power to be gained here and I will not let these opportunities to go to waste."

"And what do you plan to do with this power? Uphold Daddy's legacy?"

Vergil sneered, "Father's legacy is just that. A legend. I plan to make my own legacy. Besides, this city is far beyond salvation, just like humanity. They'll simply continue to destroy themselves. Don't smoke that in here," he added as Dante lit up a cigarette.

The younger hybrid shrugged carelessly, "Get fucked."

"Besides, it's not like you care about Father's legacy yourself," Vergil continued, "You never exactly liked the man."

"Demon, not man," Dante said, breathing a stream of smoke, "But at least I spent more time with him than you did, since you were more interested in making love to your books. Now, question time: what is Pandora's Box?"

Vergil's scowl deepened and Dante noticed him gripping his cane tighter. Sensing some kind of power within the cane, not unlike the power within Rebellion, Dante looked back at his brother, as he moved the cane to his left hand and Dante's finger tightened around Ivory's trigger. The tension was growing thick and the younger hybrid knew it was only a matter of time before one of them snapped.

"Why do you want to know?" Vergil asked, his voice tightly controlled.

"Because someone's asked me to find out who's trying to find it," Dante replied, blowing another slow stream, "And whoever it is, they aren't good people."

"You couldn't understand what's contained in the Box. Hopeless and self-absorbed Dante, with not a single clue of what's going on in the world."

"For your information, _Verge_, it's a little hard _not_ to not notice what's going on, since this entire city is trying to kill me. Know anything about that?"

"Sorry, _dear_ brother, but I do not know anything about it at all."

Dante cocked an eyebrow, before stubbing his cigarette out on the armrest, smirking in amusement when Vergil's lip twitch in anger. And if he knew his brother, then this chair had been quite expensive. Someone was going to break and it looked like Vergil.

"Really? So if I got a hold of, say, Trish, she won't say you're involved?" Dante asked, "Not involved in any way at all?"

"I don't know any Trish," Vergil said, "Our session is over. Farewell, Dante."

"Ha, you know of all people that it's never over. Not for us."

Dante flicked the crushed cigarette at his brother, who drew a thin sword from the cane, slicing the cigarette in half, as Dante whipped out Ebony, however, Vergil's sword extended out into a spine-like whip, stabbing into the armchair. Dante aimed his handguns, but dropped to the ground to avoid the armchair as it went flying out through the window. Getting up, Dante narrowly dodged the whip once more as it impaled a bookshelf and he rolled away to avoid getting struck by the furniture, before blasting away with Ebony and Ivory, however, Vergil spun his sword around like a rapid propeller that moved too fast for the human eye to see and was able to deflect every single bullet. Dante ducked away from the bullets that were deflected back at him, before drawing Rebellion and ensnaring the desk, then flipped it at his brother. Vergil sliced the desk in half as it smashed against the wall behind him, as Dante then started hurling the numerous awards and trophies at him.

"Damn it, I worked hard for all that," Vergil growled, deflecting a trophy.

"Yeah, tell someone who cares," Dante responded.

The elder twin headed towards his brother, swinging his sword, as Dante drew Rebellion and deflected the blow, the sword transforming into the scythe. Vergil gripped Yamato with both hands, as it also transmuted into an angelic scythe and the two blades clashed together, blue flames erupting from the strike. Dante knew that since Vergil was the older twin, he was more powerful and thus, Dante himself couldn't win in a fight against him. Never could and that same feeling was appearing once more, as he struggled to push hard against Vergil, who had a grin on his face like he was enjoying this, watching his brother struggle while he didn't even have to try.

"You getting tired yet, Dante?" Vergil asked.

"Go fuck yourself," Dante growled.

Breaking away, he spun around with a sweeping slash that Vergil narrowly dodged, as the scythe became the axe and Dante brought the blade down overhead, a huge fiery gouge appearing in the floorboards, as Vergil swung his own axe, slicing through the wall when Dante dashed out of the way. The younger twin drew his handguns, firing the bullets at high speeds, except that Vergil was calmly deflecting each and every round with a flick of his sword, which began glowing bright blue. Slashing the air twice, Vergil fired off twin energy crescents, as Dante responded with his own, singular energy blade, creating an explosion that tore throughout the entire office, stripping the walls of the paint, as both Yamato and Rebellion slammed against each other, their owners triggering their angelic powers. Like Dante, Vergil's hair turned snow-white, but it also spiked backwards, while his coat turned a bright blue. A whirlwind of power kicked up around the twins, heat generating between the swords, with Vergil and Dante struggling to overcome each other.

Finally, Vergil pulled away, while Dante hadn't been expecting the move and fell forward as a result. While his brother was off balance, Vergil stabbed him through the chest, his sword taking on the spine-like appearance and he hurled Dante into the wall. The younger twin growled in pain, drawing Ebony and firing away, but Vergil then threw him into the opposite wall, then smashed him against the floor. The axe came flying down, as Dante rolled away onto his stomach, but Vergil stabbed him through the back and threw him out of the window. Just as Dante started to fall, Vergil caught him on the whip, holding him in the air, as five energy spears appeared around him.

"Foolishness, Dante. Did you really hope to beat me?" Vergil smirked, "If you couldn't beat me, you can't beat him and you'll be no match for Pandora's Box."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Dante asked.

"You'll find out…if you're lucky."

Vergil ripped Yamato away, while simultaneously firing the spears and they all impaled the black-haired Dante, taking him away through the air and towards the ground far below, as Vergil smirked and cleaned the blood off the blade with a handkerchief, before sheathing the sword. Returning to his normal form, Vergil left the destroyed office, heading upstairs to the helipad atop the building, as there was a flash of red light and Trish appeared before him.

"So, what made you change your mind?" she asked, circling him, "He's been dying to see you for a while now."

"I don't know why. I've been supplying him with angels for his experiments," Vergil replied, "But we have more pressing matters at hand."

"Like your brother?" Trish smirked, "You handled him just fine, so don't worry."

"Yes, but he knows about Pandora's Box. What is the progress report?"

Trish narrowed her eyes, "If you're so worried, then maybe you should have killed Dante. I don't even know why you left him behind. You know he was wanted."

Vergil shrugged, "You worry too much, dear Trish. Dante will track us down, no doubt, and he'll be right where we want him."

Trish glared at Vergil, before grabbing him by the shoulders and together, they disappeared in a flash of red light. Down on the streets below, Dante removed one of the spears from his chest, watching as the now non-glowing spear crumbled into dust. With a groan, he hauled himself onto his feet, removing the rest of the spears, as they all fell apart and he staggered towards the end of the street, as a male version of demon he had fought earlier appeared, but this time, Dante recognised the angelic robes the demon was wearing, as he uttered a battle cry and launched his spear. Drawing Rebellion, Dante smacked the weapon aside, before ensnaring the Fallen Angel with the whip and pulling himself towards the demon, flipping over the sword swipe, before bringing the axe down overhead. The Fallen Angel cried out as the weapon sliced through his flesh, as Dante then hooked him between the crotch, before ripping the axe upwards, slicing the Fallen Angel in half. As both halves burnt away into ashes, Dante sheathed Rebellion and continued on his way, wondering how he was going to take down Vergil and whoever his accomplices were, which were no doubt Trish and her bodyguard, but who are they really working for?

†††††††††††


	9. All Fired Up

†††††††††††

The moon hung limp in the night sky, as Dante sat on the edge of a building rooftop, smoke rising before him as he looked down at the streets below, his brother's words ringing in his head. He knew this city was so steep in corruption that it would seem impossible to save it, but hadn't his father done the impossible in defeating Mundus? But the question was, did Dante really want to be like his father? While he had some good memories of Sparda, such as learning how to shoot and fight with a sword, those good times were few and far between. Most of the time, Sparda acted cold and indifferent towards his sons, which Dante attributed to him being a demon and since when did demons care about their offspring, especially angel-spawned children? In a way, Dante was glad that his father was no longer around, but at the same time, he missed his father, much in the same way that he missed his mother. Both his parents had been killed in a sudden demon attack, which led to Dante's hatred of demons and his desire to see the entire race eradicated completely, as well as the rift that appeared between the twins that saw them growing apart from each other.

Flicking the cigarette away, Dante got to his feet, ready to dive off the building, when he felt movement from behind him and whirled around, drawing Rebellion as a steel fist slammed into the blade, knocking Dante off the roof. A large, human-shape fireball came flying down after him, as Dante drew his handguns and shot at the fireball, which was swiftly closing the gap, unaffected by the bullets. Realizing this, Dante pushed off the building way, as the fireball followed him, revealing an armoured demon with flaming greaves and gauntlets, taking a swing at him, as Dante swung the scythe. There were sparks when the angelic weapon clashed with the gauntlets and Dante pushed away, lashing out with the whip, but the demon flipped over the whip via a temporary platform of fiery energy, falling towards Dante with a kick. Bouncing off the opposite building, Dante struck Rebellion against the demon's gauntlets, as the demon then surrounded itself in a ball of fire.

"What kind of demon are you?" Dante wondered after avoiding the flames.

Angel Triggering, he then began spinning around like a vortex while blasting a rainstorm of bullets down upon the demon, which protected itself with the surrounding fireball, before launching a large beam of flames that narrowly missed Dante. Attacking with the scythe once more, Dante spun through the air, the demon blocking every blow, until Dante slammed the axe upon thee demon's chest, the pair falling towards the streets below, a ring of fire blasting outwards from the pair when they landed and Dante then hurled the demon into a nearby shop window. Sending the whip inside, Dante yanked the demon out, but it kicked him in the face instead.

"Alright, who the fucking hell are you?" Dante snarled.

"I am Ifrit, however, I am the least of your problems."

The demon pointed over Dante's shoulder and he turned around, dodging the large, meaty fist that came swinging his way. Bounding out of the way, Dante drew his handguns, smirking when he saw the person before him.

"Well, if it isn't the 'muscle'? Say, where's the hooker?"

"If you're so interested in her, come with me and I'll show you," Phantom replied, "However, the 'come with me' does involve a lot of pain."

"For you or me?" Dante smirked.

Phantom clicked his fingers and Ifrit dashed forth in a blaze of flames, swinging his fists, as Dante darted around the blows, shooting with his handguns at close range, as a flaming fist slammed into his chest, knocking him off his feet, but he managed to fire a single bullet into Ifrit's head. The demon groaned, holding his head, as Dante lashed out with the axe, slicing Ifrit across the stomach, then moving behind him and implanting the axe blade into the demon's head. Phantom watched on, unmoved by his disciple's death, as Ifrit began burning away into ashes, leaving behind a pair of black gauntlets. Resuming his normal form, Dante grinned as he picked the gauntlets up and slipped them on. Almost instantly, he felt the power within them, as greaves appeared on his feet and an armoured mask appeared around his lower face. However, it felt like Ifrit's soul was residing within the gauntlets and was trying to take over Dante, fighting him for domination, to prove who was the driver was.

Touching upon the well of power inside himself, Dante Angel Triggered, showing Ifrit's soul that _he _was the master and that no one was going to control him. Realizing this, the soul retreated and Dante assumed full ownership and control over the armour, a wreath of flames burning around him, as Phantom started to back away, realising the power that Dante now possessed. The hybrid grinned, enjoying Phantom's reaction, as the demon then disappeared in a flash of flames. Dante sighed, relaxing both his powers and the power of Ifrit, returning to normal, as the armour faded away, becoming absorbed within his body, ready to be summoned at a moment's notice.

"Alright, Vergil, let's have a rematch," Dante smirked.

†††††††††††

Vergil stood on the walkway, cane in hand as he overlooked the workers digging all the soil of the way, while Trish stood nearby him, also keeping an eye on the proceedings, as Phantom suddenly appeared in a flash of flames.

"What's the problem?" Trish asked, not looking in his direction.

"Ifrit is dead. Dante killed him," Phantom replied, "And now, Dante has his power."

"Please stop with the meaningless news," Vergil cut in, "Ifrit was weak and he didn't deserve to live. Dante may have his power, but it's still meaningless."

"Where is the master? I wish to destroy Dante and avenge Ifrit."

"You could have done it right then and there," Trish said, "You have enough power to fight Dante. Why didn't you help your little _friend_?"

"He was afraid of getting his hands dirty," Vergil said.

"I am not afraid," Phantom snarled, "And it's not like the two of you have done any fucking better. Both of you wimped out from bringing him in, like you were told to."

"Calm yourself, Phantom," Vergil said, "Your master is too hasty and desperate. He should really learn some patience. Stupid human."

"You're working for him," Trish said snidely.

"I work _with_ him, not for him," Vergil said forcefully, "We both have the same goal. I have the knowledge and he has the resources. Besides, where is the fool?"

Trish looked briefly over her shoulder, before turning back to the workers, while wearing a smirk that Vergil caught with a glance and he knew he'd been caught out. However, it wasn't like he was going to correct his 'mistake'. Vergil Sparda was afraid of no one and a sorcerer with immense power wasn't going to scare him at all.

"Vergil, and here I was thinking we were friends."

"Work partners and nothing more, not even friends," Vergil said.

Arius Salvatore stood next to him, overlooking the workers as they continued digging, searching for the entrance to Pandora's Box. A man of about fifty, Arius looked to be in his late thirties with his long, blonde hair tied back into a slick ponytail, a pencilled moustache and smooth skin, while looking every much the rich businessman he was, with his immaculate, expensive black suit, white silk gloves and a tiger skin coat. He was one of the richest and most powerful men in Limbo City, owning half the city and its facilities, aided by his immense study of sorcery and the fact that he was a loyal supporter of Mundus. Vergil had met Arius the previous year, where they discussed the possibility of Pandora's Box and their search for the artefact together. Since Arius wanted the power to free his master, he had been drafted with Mundus' two personal bodyguards in the form of Trish and Phantom to oversee the procedure. But upon meeting Vergil, Arius had become intrigued by the angel/demon combination and sought to replicate that power, hence why he had Dante captured and held prisoner, to find the secret of his power. He would have done it to Vergil, had the hybrid not manage to hide himself away from the sorcerer's eyes with numerous demonic spells. Not only that, but Arius knew he couldn't beat Vergil in a direct fight.

"Of course," Arius said, "My apologies."

"Is there a quicker way to this?" Vergil asked, "I tire of waiting."

"Patience. What's the report on Dante?"

"He killed Phantom's little bitch," Trish smirked.

"Fuck you, Trish," Phantom snarled.

"Now, now children, enough," Arius said, "I've been working on something that should help capture Dante, dead or alive. A little nightmare for him."

"You are wasting too much resources on Dante," Vergil said, "He shouldn't even be the main focus of this operation. There are more important things to worry about."

"All in due time, Vergil," Arius said, "You'll soon understand."

†††††††††††

The Marionette burst into flames, burning away into mist, as Dante smirked and punished a sneaky Marionette with a powerful kick to its stomach, switching to his other foot, with which he unleashed at least ten flaming kicks, the final blow destroying the Marionette's body. The other three Marionettes came falling through the air, their blades aimed for Dante, as he crouched down, his left gauntlet bursting into flames and he launched upwards with a powerful uppercut that created a cloud of flames with the strike, incinerating the Marionettes, as Dante landed with a grin.

"Now these are fucking wicked."

A final Marionette was sneaking in from behind, as Dante aimed a flaming Ebony over his shoulder and fired a burning bullet that penetrated the Marionette's skull, causing a small, internal explosion that reduced the Marionette to ashes.

"Yeah, fucking wicked indeed."

†††††††††††

AN: Yeah, Arius, I know. Was gonna have a different person, but realised the character was similar to Arius, so I went with him instead. And I hope his reasons make sense. They made sense in my head, but sometimes, it's hard to transfer from head to paper perfectly.


	10. The Nightmare Rises

†††††††††††

"Dante, wake up."

"Fuck off."

"DANTE!"

He snapped awake, Ivory whipping out of nowhere to point at the transparent Patty, but he sighed and lowered the handgun, before running a hand through his messy hair.

"The fuck you want?" Dante groaned, "Couldn't you see I was sleeping?"

"We have a big problem right now," Patty said, ignoring his complaints, "They're getting real close to the Box."

"That's interesting," Dante yawned, before flopping back onto the bed.

Taking solid form, Patty grabbed the hybrid and tore him out of the bed. He instantly got to his feet, Ivory pointed at her head, but she had already turned transparent once more, as he muttered a curse and searched for his cigarettes, lighting one up.

"Alright, what's your problem?" he asked around a mouthful of smoke.

"Pandora's Box is close to being found," Patty said, "You need to find it before they do. Did you get anything from your brother?"

Dante glared at her and headed into the small kitchen of his apartment, pulling a beer out of the fridge and cracking it open, as Patty gave him a disapproving glare.

"What?" he said, "It's ten o'clock somewhere."

Patty sighed and rolled her eyes, "So, your brother? Get anything?"

"Yeah, my ass handed to me. What do you want from me, Patty?"

"For you to save the world from destruction, obviously."

"Look, I'm not like my father, okay?" Dante said, "Living up to his legacy is not exactly high on my to-do list."

"What would your mother think?" Patty asked, knowing it would hit home.

She was correct, it did, as Dante gave her a dirty look, his hand subconsciously reaching for the amulet that hung around his neck, a final gift from his mother. He knew what his mother would say if she was here, but he didn't want to think about it, as he got up from the old lounge chair and slung his coat on.

"Alright, fine, if it's that important to you, I'll do something about it," Dante muttered, holstering his guns and grabbing Rebellion, "Not like I have better things to do with my time. What?"

Patty was looking towards his bedroom and he caught the sounds of a helicopter.

"Oh shit."

The wall exploded in a shower of splinters and dust, as Patty disappeared. Growling, Dante looked towards the hole in his bedroom, where the helicopter was hovering outside. Bullets tore into the apartment, as Dante raced towards the hole, leaping out into the air and snagging onto the underside of the helicopter with the whip, then pulled himself up into the cargo hold, throwing the gunner out.

"Alright, lower this damn thing right now!" Dante demanded, aiming both handguns at the pilot and co-pilot.

However, the pilot yanked on the flight stick, tossing the helicopter through the air and Dante off balance, before drawing his own handgun, his eyes flashing red, as Dante quickly shot him between the eyes. The co-pilot threw himself at Dante, as the helicopter hurtled towards the ground and Dante knocked the co-pilot aside, before leaping out and shooting at the helicopter until it exploded. Cars came to a sudden stop in the streets, as the burning wreckage came crashing down, while Dante watched from atop a nearby building. Police started to arrive, so he took that as his cue to leave. Dropping off the other side, Dante floated through the air towards the streets, landing amongst the civilians, none of whom seemed startled by his sudden arrival and he did his best to hide from the police that came cruising down the street in search of him. Ducking into an alley, Dante navigated through the twisted backstreets, coming out onto a small street, noticing six glowing blue discs lying in two rows on the road. With a frown, Dante edged closer, as the world suddenly changed.

The buildings shifted and transformed, as the sky became navy blue and green, just like the rest of the world around him, as a thick, green liquid began seeping from the discs, forming together into a large puddle, which then began rising and taking shape. A male humanoid stood amongst the streets, with complete blue/green armoured body, a long coat, while his head looked like a mask with empty white eyes.

"Let me guess, another baddie looking to beat me down?" Dante said, "Geez, when will it ever end? It seems like everywhere I turn, people are trying to kill me."

"I was sent by Arius to take you to him, dead or alive," Nightmare said.

"Arius, huh? That must be the guy my brother's working with. So tell me, Ooze Boy, how exactly are you planning on doing that?"

Nightmare raised his hand, showing his palm to Dante, as an opening appeared and bullets suddenly sprayed from his palm. Dante leapt out of the way, firing his own handguns, as Nightmare raised his other palm, which was also shooting bullets. Diving towards Nightmare, Dante slashed with Rebellion, but the demon dodged the blade with surprising agility, a spear suddenly appearing out from his chest and striking Dante. He bounced back onto his feet, as Rebellion became the scythe and Dante lunged at Nightmare, slashing at the demon, who melted down into the pool of ooze, which then seemingly disappeared, leaving Dante very confused.

Sensing movement, Dante leapt away from the shower of icicles that rained down, blasting away with Ebony and Ivory, as Nightmare disappeared once more, reappearing nearby, as a glowing blue orb appeared in his chest. Dante watched with a frown as the glow increased in brightness, before a beam of energy was unleashed from the orb, one that Dante narrowly avoided. Catching Nightmare in the chest with the whip, Dante pulled himself towards the demon, but was easily smacked aside.

"This could take a while," Dante said, getting to his feet.

Nightmare came for him, but he attacked with the axe, spinning around with the weapon a whirlwind of vicious attacks and Nightmare backed away from the strikes, as Dante landed an overhead strike that split the demon in half, however, he melted down into the puddle and disappeared once more. Wary, Dante drew his handguns, just as ooze suddenly formed around him in a large sphere and he fired away, but the bullets ricocheted off the thick substance, quickly forcing Dante to stop that action, as he was finally trapped inside the demon.

Suddenly, Dante was assaulted by a vicious onslaught of memories, but he wasn't sure if they were playing in his mind or on the wall before him, they had become so vivid, as he was forced to relive memories from his time in the asylum, ranging from the torture and beatings he had received, but not only that, but the night his parents died.

_"No, stop this. I don't want to see this!"_

_"How long before your mind breaks from this constant reply?"_ came Nightmare's taunting voice, _"I am not called Nightmare for nothing."_

_"Fuck you. I've had enough of this shit,"_ Dante thought, _"Lived through it once before, I do _not _want to see it again."_

_"Tragic, isn't it? Watching your parents being slaughtered like helpless humans while you and your brother were completely incapable of saving them."_

_"I swear, either you stop this or I'll fucking tear you apart."_

Nightmare laughed, _"That is only a foolish hope, Dante. I'm right here, inside your mind, watching all your nightmares for my amusement while you squirm and suffer."_

With a roar of rage, Dante transformed, severing the tendrils implanted in the back of his neck, the energy flux breaking out of the sphere he was imprisoned in, as Nightmare formed before him, a curious interest in his eyes. Dante growled, his eyes flashing red and he dashed at Nightmare, aiming for a Stinger, when the opening appeared in the demon's chest, revealing the orb and suddenly, the air felt very cold, as it was sucked into the orb and Dante felt himself weakening, resuming his normal form. Drawing Ebony and Ivory, Dante fired two rounds into the orb, causing the intake to stop and Nightmare to stagger back, as he raised his hand, creating another shower of icicles. Sprinting out of the way, Dante fired at Nightmare, who responded with his own blast of bullets, before melting into the ground.

Leaping out of the way of the several spears that burst out of the ground, Dante slashed at Nightmare with Rebellion, however, the wounds were instantly, as a spear smacked Dante aside. Nightmare growled, revealing the orb and gathering energy, as Dante thought quickly and stabbed the orb with the whip. Nightmare grabbed onto the whip, trying to wrench it away, but Dante held fast, before tearing the orb straight out of the demon and crushing it beneath his boot, then fired an energy wave that sliced straight through Nightmare. He burst apart in a shower of ooze, leaving behind a small, glowing ball of light. It shot towards Dante's open hand, forming into a sleek, black grenade launcher that had numerous thick spikes along the top. Dante placed the Nightmare Beta onto his back, as the world returned to normal, with no sign of a fight having taken place, however, Dante found himself surrounded by police officers.

"Put your hands up and surrender now," an officer spoke through a megaphone.

Grabbing the Nightmare Beta, Dante fired several shots into the air, as icicles came raining down upon the cruisers, freezing the cars and any unfortunate officers in blocks of ice, as Dante took the opportunity to flee the scene, using his new weapon to hinder any officer coming for him and even blocking the street off, forcing them to go around through another street. With a grin, Dante launched himself up onto a building rooftop with the help from the whip, before floating across to another roof, as police cars raced past, heading towards his suppose location, as he took off in a different direction, while thinking about Patty's words. Perhaps it was time to track down Vergil and Arius and prevent them from finding Pandora's Box.

†††††††††††


	11. Descend from Heaven

†††††††††††

"Your Nightmare failed," Trish reported, "Dante killed it. Nice try though."

Arius had returned his office to order to catch up on some business work, signing deals and contracts that would help expand his empire. He really had come a long way, from humble beginnings as a poor child living on scraps in Limbo City, to a powerful sorcerer who practically owned nearly the entire city. And if his plan with Pandora's Box was to succeed, then he would also own the entire world.

"That's a shame," Arius said, "I was hoping Nightmare would succeed. Still, how are our other experimentations coming along?"

"Our supply of angels has dried up," Trish replied, "According to Vergil, his tactics just aren't going to work since the angels are catching on."

"And yet they aren't coming down to stop me," Arius said, leaving his office with Trish following him, "Maybe they realize that it's hopeless to face me and by extension, Mundus. But the angels don't matter. We've got enough."

He led Trish through the floors of his empire skyscraper to a large underground facility where numerous experiments were taking place. Arius watched with a smile, knowing that everything was coming together as planned…except for a minor inconvenience known as Dante. The sooner he was taken care off, the better.

"Now, let's see what Dante's up to."

†††††††††††

With a single sweep of Rebellion, the Marionette was burst apart into mist, as Dante sheathed his sword and leaned against the wall with a smirk, lightning up a cigarette. He had tried searching for information on Pandora's Box from the demons, but unfortunately, they didn't have much intelligence and the only way they could assist him was to let off some steam. The only other way of finding out more was to wait for Patty to find him again or for him to go seek out Vergil, which was something he was seriously contemplating, especially with the new weapons he had gained.

There was a flash of light and Dante pushed off the wall, while spinning around, drawing Rebellion and pointing it at the newcomer in one swift movement. However, he found that he also had a sword being pointed at him and seeing this, Dante smirked. The being he was facing was completely humanoid, with perfect features and musculature, wearing robes from the waist down, while he had shoulder-length golden hair and a large pair of white avian wings growing from his shoulders.

"Ha, now this is fucking hilarious," Dante said, "A fucking angel."

"Dante," the angel said, "You do have your father's attitude. And your mother's fire."

"You know my name, so how about I know yours?"

"Asteraoth."

"Wow, that's a mouthful. So what brings your heavenly ass down to our mere mortal world? Only just realised there's a massive threat taking place?" Dante taunted.

"It's not going to happen," Asteraoth said confidently, "Mundus won't rise."

"Oh and what makes you think that?"

"Because you are going to stop Arius and prevent Mundus from rising."

"I love the confidence. Still didn't answer my question."

Asteraoth sighed, "Can we lower our weapons and talk about this?"

Dante sheathed Rebellion, but then drew out Ivory, smirking as he blew out a stream of smoke towards the angel, causing the celestial being to sigh deeply.

"I'm an angel, Dante, surely you can trust me?" Asteraoth asked.

"Sorry, but I trust angels as much as I trust demons, so no luck," Dante replied, "Just hurry up and tell me what you want to say, then get your ass back to Heaven."

"Some of us had come down to assist you, but your brother has been capturing our warriors for use in Arius' experiments, where he turns them for his cause."

"Okay, so who exactly is this Arius guy?"

"A rich, powerful businessman who specialises in elemental and demonic magic," Asteraoth answered, "He is the reason this city is dying."

"Alright, so where does this guy live?"

The angel was about to reply when there was a flash of red lightning and a pillar of flames, with Trish and Phantom grabbing hold of Asteraoth. Dante fired with Ivory, but Phantom and Asteraoth disappeared in a flash of flames, as Trish flicked her hand towards the ground with a smile, then disappeared in a flash of lightning. Dante went to chase after her, but stepped on an invisible plate that lit up, blasting a beam of lightning straight into Dante, knocking him off his feet. He growled and looked up, seeing that the alley was blocked off by a barrier of lightning that extended to the rooftops, reaching up into the sky, forcing Dante to have to go around the block.

_"Rich and powerful, huh? Guess I know where to find him."_

Dante headed towards the richer part of Limbo City once more, however, a glowing spear suddenly landed near his feet. Frowning, he looked up to see three Fallen Angels hovering in the air, the male wielding a large sword, while the two females both held a glowing spear. Knowing he had to get to Arius' building quickly to save Asteraoth, Dante jumped onto the roof of a passing car, which continued moving as if the driver hadn't noticed his new passenger at all, as Dante fired away at the Fallen Angels. A spear was launched at him, but he leapt out of the way, managing to land on the car roof, as the male Fallen came flying at him, swinging his large sword.

Dante managed to block with Rebellion, as the male swiped again while the two females launched their spears. Pushing the male aside, Dante shot the spears aside, before hooking the male with the whip, then slammed him against a building wall and dragged him through the mortar, before slamming him against the road, as the car rounded a corner and the two females swooped in to attack. Fending off their blows, Dante scored a kick to his chest and he flipped over to land on the bonnet, startling the driver. Ensnaring a female Fallen, Dante pulled himself up into the air and attacked her with the demonic axe, with the final spinning blow smashing her into a building wall, where she screamed as she burned away into ashes.

Landing upon a building roof, Dante dodged a diving strike from the male Fallen, catching hold of the female and slamming her against the male, then delivered a charged Stinger blow that blasted the pair across the rooftop. The male was the first to recover, flying at Dante once more, as he leapt out of the way with a smirk, then pointed Ivory backwards and fired a single round into the female's head. She turned to ashes, as the male swiped at Dante with his sword, only for Dante to flip over him and slice a wing off. The Fallen snarled, as Dante then smacked the sword from his hand, before shoving the Fallen Angel onto his back and pointing Rebellion at his throat.

"Now, let's start talking," Dante said, "Tell me where Arius is."

†††††††††††

Arius signed the contract and placed it within the file, adding it to his suitcase, preparing to finish for the day and check on the digging progress. However, he didn't expect one of his wall-height windows being shattered when Dante came sliding into the office, drawing Ebony and pointing it at him.

"Well, Dante, this is quite the surprise," Arius said.

"So, you must be Arius then?" Dante said, "The one pulling all the strings? The one responsible for my incarceration in that shithole of an asylum?"

"You are a fascinating specimen, a combination of both demon and angel. I-"

"Spare me the crap. This whole operation of yours, it's gonna stop. Now, unlike your mother, mine taught me some morals, so I won't kill you, but I will hurt you…a lot."

Arius chuckled, "You are a cocky one if you think you could hurt me-"

A gunshot rang out and Arius fell to his knee, clutching at the bullet wound in his right shin. Gritting his teeth, he used his magic to extract the bullet and heal the wound, rising up as he held the bullet between his thumb and forefinger.

"Is this yours?"

With a flick of his finger, Arius fired the bullet back at Dante, which he narrowly dodged while drawing out Ivory and blasting away at the sorcerer, who erected a shield of magic to deflect the bullets. Drawing Rebellion, Dante tried to use the whip, but it was avoided by Arius, who with a flick of his hand sent forth a wave of black spikes that raced towards Dante. He rolled away out of the way, feeling a presence of magic beneath his feet and with another roll, he avoided the sudden wind funnel that burst up from the ground. Arius smirked, drawing out a handgun, firing off several quick shots that Dante blocked with the flat of the blade.

"Well, I was hoping you'd be as strong as your brother," Arius said, "Otherwise, how do you expect to save your feathery friend downstairs?"

"I think I've got an idea."

Slamming the axe into the floor, Dante then flipped in the air and performed the Rainstorm to destroy the office floor, landing on the floor below, then raced along the hallway with the Nightmare Beta. Blowing open the elevator doors, Dante dived through the shaft, using the cables to slow his descent, finding himself in the underground experiment base, where he found he was too late. Asteraoth was currently pulling himself off the gurney, having already been transformed into a Fallen Angel, as a few other Fallen Angels and several Marionettes appeared.

"Dante," Asteraoth growled, "Time to die."

"Ah fuck," Dante said.

†††††††††††

AN: Asteraoth is the name of the angel who thwarts power. Kinda fitting really...


	12. I'm Coming For You

†††††††††††

"Astero," Dante said, "Any chance we can talk about this without weapons?"

The Fallen Angel moved fast, sweeping his sword wide, but Dante had already avoided the blow, moving behind a Marionette via a parry, blasting the demon at point-blank range with the Nightmare Beta. He had barely known the former angel for long, but upon seeing Asteroath's changed form, Dante couldn't help but feel disappointed with himself for not being able to save the angel in time. Since he knew that angels were very prideful creatures, Dante decided to do Asteraoth a favour.

"Alright, Astero, let's settle this, angel è half-angel."

"Dante," Asteraoth groaned, "Kill…me."

"Sure, as long as you stay still," Dante replied, impaling a Marionette without looking.

Flinging the body aside as it turned to mist, Dante sheathed Rebellion and drew in his handguns in one smooth movement, firing at Asteraoth, but he brought his wings over himself like a shield, the bullets bouncing off the steel-like feathers. A male Fallen Angel swooped in, chopping his sword, as Dante darted away from the blade, Ifrit coming to the surface. Stepping off the sword, Dante kicked the Fallen in the face, landing on his feet and performing a Stinger-like punch that shattered a Marionette's head. Dodging Asteraoth's sword, Dante struck him in the face, then landed a spinning axe kick on another Marionette, before kicking the demon into the air and delivering several swifts blows to the demon's body in a matter of seconds, the final flaming blow bursting the Marionette into mist.

"Come on, Astero, surely you can snap out of this mojo crap Arius had put on you," Dante said, "I mean, you're a fucking angel!"

A blade shard came flying for the hybrid and after deflecting it with Ifrit, he responded in kind by incinerating the Marionette with a fireball.

"Can't…demon soul…inside me," Asteraoth growled.

"You're not the only one."

The former angel lunged, swinging his massive sword, but Dante leapt out of the way, stabbing a gurney with Rebellion, then flung it at Asteraoth. Two Fallen Angels swooped in, only for Dante to leap past them, shooting them in the back with the Nightmare Beta and encasing them both in pillars of ice. Asteraoth lunged for Dante, shattering the two Fallen Angels instead when Dante ducked, who then launched his Ifrit-covered feet into the former angel's stomach. Asteraoth swiftly recovered from the attack, falling upon Dante sword first, then swung wide, catching Dante in the back with the flat of the blade, slamming the hybrid into the opposite wall.

"As a favour from me to you," Dante said, then Angel Triggered, "I'll make it quick."

Asteraoth swung again, but moving with such swift agility, Dante leapt over the Fallen Angel, shooting him in the back with Ebony and Ivory. Snarling, Asteraoth whirled around, hurling the sword like a spear, only for Dante to catch the weapon and use its own momentum to hurl it straight back into Asteraoth's chest, pinning him to the wall. Dante was behind him in a flash, swinging the Rebellion-axe and decapitating Asteraoth. The body burned away into ashes, as Dante resumed his normal form, staring at the falling ashes. He felt guilty about killing an angel, but it was for Asteraoth's own good. As he rose to his feet and sheathed Rebellion, Dante made a promise to Asteraoth's ashes to make Arius and Vergil pay deeply.

By the time Arius and Trish had arrived in the basement, Dante was long gone, causing Arius to throw a violent fit that Trish quickly disappeared from.

†††††††††††

Dante sat on the gargoyle, staring at the city below, a half-lit cigarette in hand which he was looking at with disinterest. With a sigh, he flicked the cigarette away, before lying down on the gargoyle, reflecting on the day's events. Maybe it was time to stop fooling around and really put an end to Arius and Vergil's dealings. Step up and save the world, be a damn hero, like his father. But do it his own way.

"Dante?"

He looked up to see a transparent Patty standing on the gargoyle across from him. He sat up upon noticing the distressed look on her face and in a small, single bound, he was standing on the gargoyle beside her, noticing she was flicking in and out.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"They're so close right now. I'm now very much bound to the Box and I can't stray very far now. It's a struggle just being here to let you know."

"Don't worry, I'm coming after them now. No one, not even Vergil, is going to stop me from preventing Arius getting to you. Just tell me where the Box is."

"I can't," Patty admitted, "It's one of the charms and only a power sorcerer-"

"Like Arius can make you tell him," Dante concluded, "But he's getting close, so how is it he's managed to find it without you?"

"I can only assume your brother has performed extensive research. But while there are charms meant to disorientate them, I believe they would be nothing to Arius. He'd still need me to pinpoint the actual location, but it's only a matter of time."

"Okay, so where are they?" Dante asked.

"There's still some time, so Arius has retreated to his nightclub, the Heaven on Earth," Patty said.

"Hm, I've heard of that place. Popular place, where drug running and legal prostitution takes place. I'll look into it."

"Of course you will," came a velvet voice from nearby.

Dante whirled around, pointing Ivory at Trish, who smirked and pointed over his shoulder at Phantom, who was standing on the opposite gargoyle, as Dante aimed Ebony at the demon, receiving a smirk in reply.

"Dante, I'm sorry, but I've got to go," Patty cried.

"Oh no you don't, cupcake," Trish said, raising her hand.

She fired a single, red bolt of lightning that struck Patty and seemed to have an effect on her, incapacitating her. Dante whirled both handguns at Trish, but he was struck from the side and knocked off the gargoyle, as Phantom dived after him. Dante fired away at him, blasting him with bullets, before flipping over to land on his feet. As soon as Dante landed, the entire world changed and he found himself within a transformed version of Limbo City once more, as Phantom landed nearby, his body filled with numerous bullet wounds, lava seeping from the injuries.

"I'm taking you in with me," Phantom growled, "Dead or alive."

"No, you're gonna die trying," Dante replied.

Two Marionettes appeared, but they were different from before. Instead of black and white chequered skin, they had red and white checkers, wore a court jester's hat and bell-tipped shoes. Like the Marionettes, these had a blade on the arm, except on both arms and pointing the opposite way. And they were also covered head to toe in blood.

"Ah, this is new," Dante said, "Just for me?"

Twin blade shards came slicing towards him, as he fired a rapid stream of icicles that encased one Bloody Marionette, but not for long, as the demon shattered the icicles with its blades, while the second Bloody Marionette was entrapped in ooze fired from Nightmare Beta. Phantom twirled his hand, creating a fiery whirlwind, sending it towards Dante. He dived out of the way, blasting away with Ebony and Ivory, before releasing a charged pair of bullets that bounced from one Bloody Marionette to the other and finally into Phantom, creating a small explosion when they struck him.

"Damn you!" Phantom snarled.

Dante did a mocking bow, before parrying one Bloody Marionette and impaling it through the gut, then placed his foot against its throat and slammed the demon against the ground, before shooting it rapidly in the head, turning it to black mist. Phantom suddenly appeared before Dante in a flash of flames, his fist driving into the hybrid's chest. Dante stopped himself from sliding back too far, swinging Rebellion around in time to slice across Phantom's cheek, lava burning beneath the skin.

"An improvement," Dante smirked.

Leaping over the remaining Bloody Marionette, he blasted it with the Nightmare Beta, before engaging Ifrit and coming down with a diving kick that shattered the Bloody Marionette in a shower of bloody icicles. As the icicles rained down, Dante lunged with a powerful punch towards Phantom. However, the demon caught Dante's fist, but a kick to the groin made him let go of the hybrid's fist, leaving him open. With a grin, Dante savaged Phantom with a series of punches and kicks, the flames not affecting the demon, but the punishing blows sure were. After a blazing thirteen-kicks-in-one-second that knocked Phantom off his feet, Dante yanked him close with the whip, sent him flying with Rebellion, then attacked him in mid-air with the scythe. A final spinning-while-rising attack threw Phantom to the ground, now missing both legs and his left arm, lava blood splattered all over the ground.

"So, how about taking me in, dead or alive, now huh?" Dante smirked.

"Fuck you!" Phantom snarled viciously, "This isn't over!"

He disappeared in a flash of flames, as Dante rested Rebellion on his shoulder, drawing out a cigarette, before tucking it behind his ear, watching as the entire world reverted back to normal and he was back in the streets of Limbo City.

"Heaven on Earth, huh? Hilarious," he said, "Don't worry, Patty, I'm coming."

†††††††††††


	13. A Delay in the Road

†††††††††††

Arius entered the basement, a pleased smile on his face when he saw Patty. She was contained inside a glass tube, constantly bombarded with surges of electricity in order to prevent her from escaping, while also trying to coax her into solid form. It would make questioning so much easier when she wasn't being electrocuted.

"That'll do, Trish," Arius said, then turned to Patty, "Time to talk."

Trish turned the electricity off, sparks still flickering throughout Patty's body as she faded in and out, like her ability to turn solid had been scrambled by the torture.

"Now, little guardian, perhaps you and I can have a talk," Arius said, "I want to know the exact location of Pandora's Box and how to get past the charms in place."

Patty didn't reply, remaining on the ground, whimpering.

"Torture is very old fashioned, but it does get the job done. I'd rather not do it, but I will if I must and if you keep silent, then you force me to do it."

"I would rather suffer torture than tell you anything," Patty replied.

"Well, there are others ways I can extract the information without torture," Arius said, "Would you like to see how well versed in magic I am?"

Just as he raised his hand to perform the spell, there was a flash of flames and Phantom appeared, lava blood pumping from his stumps and the numerous wounds. Trish took one look and hid her laughter behind her hand, as Arius sighed and waved his hand, cleaning up the blood and healing Phantom's minor injuries.

"Let me guess, you failed to capture Dante?" Arius asked.

"I think it was more like Dante killed his ass," Trish chuckled.

"Go fuck yourself, Trish," Phantom snarled, then to Arius, "Yes, I failed."

"Hm, he's becoming more problematic than I thought."

"Why not get Vergil to bring Dante in?" Trish suggested, "He did defeat him."

"Yes, but Dante isn't Vergil's objective," Arius replied, "And therefore, none of his concern. If Vergil hadn't been using spells to block my powers, I'd use him."

"So, what's the plan then?"

"Each time we've gone out to capture Dante, he's escaped. This time, we let him come to us. No doubt he'd be coming to save this little girl."

"You underestimate Dante," Patty said, "He has the power of his father."

"I bet," Arius sneered, "Trish, send out the troops. Let's see if we can't wear him down before he gets here."

†††††††††††

One stabbing manoeuvre became twenty, with the final blow tearing straight through the Bloody Marionette and turning it to black mist. Turning around, Dante switched Rebellion for his handguns, blasting perfect, clean holes through a Fetish. It screeched as it slummed over, its body melting away, as Dante then dodged a Dullahan's maces, shooting at the knight-like demon, but it protected itself with a shield of ice. Several Puias swooped overhead, launching their flaming feathers like missiles, with Dante backing away from each feather, but with a spring in his step, like it was a dance.

"Now, I think it's starting to become a party," Dante smirked.

A new type of demon had appeared on the scene, in a small group of five. While they had humanoid features, their limbs were insect-like to allow for springing manoeuvres, while rows of long, thick spines ran along their back to the tip of their thick tails. In Dante's opinion, they looked like nobodies and he happily called them as such. Even when they fired their spines like missiles and Dante was able to deflect every single one with Rebellion, he still considered them nobodies. One of the Nobodies curled itself up into a ball and launched through the air, trying to hit Dante with its spines, if only he hadn't nimbly leapt out of the way in time.

Jumping up into a horizontal position, Dante crossed his arms over and spun around rapidly, firing bullets in every direction, before landing on his feet and doing a single, three hundred and sixty degree spin while also shooting more bullets. A few Fetishes and Nobodies squealed as they succumbed to death, as a Bloody Marionette lashed out at Dante with its blade. He blocked and leapt back to assault the demon with bullets, as the Dullahan swung its maces. Flipping over the weapons, Dante shot towards the Dullahan, slashing away with Rebellion while mindful to keep away from its large sword. When the armour broke, Dante turned his attention to the nearest Bloody Marionette in order to stay away from the now-fast knight-like demon.

_"Then, I do this, a little of this, that move, ha! And now for this one…"_

Spinning Rebellion around like a propeller, Dante knocked the Dullahan back a few steps, before attacking its weak points with the axe. Puias dived down, firing their feathers once more, as Dante leapt into the air, using the whip to snatch the Puias out of the sky and hurled them into the Dullahan, one after the other, followed by another. The Dullahan was left quite stunned and weakened by the assault, as Dante took advantage by firing two bullets that shattered the Dullahan in a shower of ice.

"Well, that took care of that," Dante said, "Hopefully, there's no…oh crap."

The world began changing, but instead of being surprised, Dante was closer to being annoyed, not wanting to be delayed any longer than he already was. While no demons were appearing, there was the presence of a giant, black cloud with three red orbs resting in a triangular position in the centre. Dante watched the cloud with mild interest, resting Ebony on his shoulder and lighting up a cigarette.

"Alright, well, you seem like a sentient being to me," Dante said, "So, question is, who the fuck are you? And why the fuck are you chasing me?"

The cloud simply hovered there, annoying Dante to the point where he shot at it with Ebony. Only then did the cloud respond, in the way of shooting down three beams of energy, one of them hitting Dante in the chest and instantly knocking him flat on his back. A burning sensation was spreading across his body and it felt like his chest was starting to go numb from where he was struck. Realising that the cloud was about to fire again and not wanting to be hit again, Dante reeled back onto his feet in time to avoid the blast, before making the decision to flee from the cloud. He had managed to do it last time, he figured he could do it again, even if he hated having to run away.

Dodging the next blast, Dante raced towards the nearest exit he could see, darting down through the narrow street, seeing that the cloud was indeed chasing him. A Fallen Angel appeared before him, just as a deep chasm opened up in the road and Dante leapt over it, while shooting the Fallen Angel before she could swing her sword. Leaving the ashes to the cloud, Dante diverted from his path, heading out onto a larger street, as spikes of energy burst up from the road, intending to impale him. Darting around them, Dante sliced straight through a Bloody Marionette that had appeared, as three energy beams wiped out a large spike instead of him. Another three beams shot overhead, striking a building Dante was running nearby, bringing half the structure crashing down towards him. With a swift burst of speed, Dante managed to race underneath the wreckage in time to block the cloud off and he saw that he was now inside a church, warped by the effects of the demonic dimension. The floor split apart into chasms, as if the holy place itself was trying to stop Dante from escaping, however, aided by his angelic blood, Dante was able to sail over the chasms and find his exit through one of the stain-glass windows, coming back out into the city.

"Well, that was exciting," Dante commented to himself.

However, the world wasn't shifting back to the human dimension and he turned around to find the cloud hovering before him. Narrowly dodging the triple energy blasts, Dante fired away with Ebony and Ivory, but the bullets weren't having an affect on the cloud, as large holes began appearing at random, along with a few Fallen Angels that swooped at Dante, swinging their swords. He dodged the blades, while shooting with his handguns and avoiding the cloud's energy blasts, as a chasm opened beneath him. Dante flew out of the way, just as Fallen Angel fell upon him, swinging his spear. Blocking with the barrels of his handguns, Dante spun around the Fallen Angel, slamming the axe into his back, then threw him aside into another Fallen Angel, followed by a shot from the Nightmare Beta that froze the pair solid. Flinging a slice of energy off Rebellion, Dante reduced the frozen pair to tiny shards of ice, as the cloud swooped down on him, as if trying to smother him with its mass.

In response, Dante ascended into his angelic form, waves of energy rushing off his body that sliced through the cloud, as Dante then began swinging his axe while in the midst of the cloud and with flames rolling off the blades, Dante was sure he heard the cloud roar with anger and pain. Sure enough, the cloud pulled away from Dante, slowly fading away from sight and he thought he heard the cloud moan his name before it disappeared completely and the world began to shift back to normal. Once it did, Dante did the same thing, sheathing Rebellion over his shoulder.

"If there's gonna be no more distractions, it's time to pay this nightclub a visit," he spoke to himself, "Vergil and I have a scheduled rematch coming up."

After waiting several minutes to see if any more demons were going to show up, Dante was partially satisfied that none did, as it allowed him to venture straight towards Heaven on Earth without anything in his way. However, while he was more than happy to continue fighting demons for the time being, Dante knew that the current fate of the city rested on his shoulders, for without him, the city was certainly become a demonic paradise. Though, as he headed off towards the nightclub, Dante wondered if he should care about the fate of Limbo City, given how the city had been trying to kill him and that the civilians used to shun him when he was younger. Then, he wondered if this was how his father had felt when he set out to save the world.

_"Finally, Dad, I'm doing what you always wanted me to do, to take over the reins of the 'business', so to speak and trying to save the world. I hope you're happy."_

†††††††††††


	14. Heaven on Earth

†††††††††††

Heaven on Earth.

The three storey nightclub was a place of mass corruption, with many illegal dealings taking place within the building, such as sex slave trading, prostitution and drug running. No doubt the police were being paid to look the other way so that they wouldn't investigate the dealings that were taking place.

And speaking of the police…

Dante had been ready to cross the road to the nightclub, thinking of a way on how he was going to make an entrance, possibly by kicking the front doors off their hinges. It sounded like a good plan, a really great plan if it worked, but then a police cruiser had come down the street, its occupants catching sight of Dante and turned on the sirens.

_"Here we go a-fucking-gain."_

He didn't have time for this. Arius and Vergil had to be stopped. Running towards the cruiser, Dante kicked the driver's door, slamming it against the officer as he went to get out, then jumped across the bonnet while kicking the second officer in the face. However, just before Dante landed, something snagged his ankle and dropped him to the ground. Looking back, he saw the second officer he had struck had somewhat mutated, his tongue having extended out like a frog to ensnare him. Drawing Ivory, Dante severed the tongue, before firing another bullet into the officer's head, as the first officer leapt over the front of the cruiser. He fired his tongue, only for Dante to catch it and yank him through the air, striking him with Ifrit. With a firm grip on the demon's tongue, Dante then brought his foot down overhead, crushing the demon's skull with the blow. Smiling, Dante turned his attentions back towards the nightclub and would have continued with his original plan if he hadn't noticed the camera on the side of the building. The camera that was now a demonic eye…

"Ah, fuck it," Dante said, drawing Rebellion as the world transformed around him.

Instead of the usual demons he was accustomed to fighting, Dante found himself being confronted by several, feminine demons. Slender, voluptuous and blue-skinned, they had thick black hair, white snake eyes, fangs and a pointed tongue…and wickedly sharp talons in place of fingers, while also wearing metallic bikinis.

"Whoa, hey ladies! There's no need for us to fight. I happen to be a really good lover and if you give me a chance, I'll prove it to you."

One of the Lust demons spoke in a language unknown to Dante, but he just grinned and held his coat lapels, trying to appeal to the demons, but sadly, it wasn't working. He quickly realised that after dodging an electrical whirlwind and that the only way out of this was through a fight. His seduction skills definitely needed some work…

One of the Lust demons came racing at him at blinding speeds, slashing wildly with her claws, with Dante blocking the blows, while a second Lust came speeding in. Electrical whirlwinds spread across the area, forcing Dante to back up away from the random sparks of lightning. Bullets were also failing due to the velocity of the whirlwinds and were even getting flung back at Dante.

"Come on, babes, give a guy a break!"

He managed to block a Lust's furious attack, but the force of her swipes knocked him into the air and he unleashed a vortex of bullets upon the Lust demon beneath him. She screeched, smoke rising from her wounds, as Dante pulled another Lust demon through the air with the whip, slicing into her with the axe, flames licking her body as Dante then smashed her into the ground, the shockwave throwing the rest of the Lust demons aside. Snatching another Lust, Dante hooked her with the scythe and flung her into a fellow Lust, before having to avoid another electrical whirlwind.

_"Gotta finish this fast. Gotta get inside that nightclub."_

Deflecting a Lust's talons, Dante caught her around the throat with the scythe and pulled hard, decapitating her. The rest of the Lusts screeched in horror upon seeing their sister die and they all lunged at once for Dante, their talons flashing through the air. Charging his demonic energy into Ebony and Ivory, Dante fired two bullets that ricocheted amongst all the Lust demons, Rebellion then taking its turn to slice through the demons. Lusts screeched as their bodies were destroyed by the sword, with Dante finishing the last of the demons via a powerfully charged Stinger attack. The demons all dead and the demonic eye splattered on the sidewalk, Dante smiled when the world shifted back to normal and he sauntered over to the front doors of Heaven on Earth, finally going through with his original plan.

The doors flew off their hinges and Dante stepped inside the nightclub, which appeared to be in full swing despite it currently being daylight hours. Music was pounding in the background, as beautiful strippers danced on the poles, much to the amusement of the fat and rich men. Dante sneered at the greedy corporate men, disgusted by their behaviour, though he did pause by a few of the strippers, admiring their beauty and dancing skills. However, he noted that there was something different about the women, like they were far more graceful than what was considered possible. Strobe lights danced over the entire place, as Dante caught sight of Arius standing inside the office on the third floor. And he wasn't alone.

"Trish, Vergil, it appears we have a visitor," Arius smirked.

"Course of action?" Trish asked.

"Just, let's watch and see how things unfold."

So focused he was on getting to Arius that Dante didn't notice a few of the businessmen rising up from their seats, their bodies contorting in agony. When his senses finally became alert to warn him that something was wrong, he had already been thrown straight through one of the numerous private booths.

"Things are about to get real exciting around here," Dante murmured as he got up.

Ifrit appeared in a flash of flames and he cracked the nearest businessman in the face with a strong punch, watching as the man melt away to reveal a Greed demon. Looking more like a golden skeleton in black scraps of clothing, the demon spewed a stream of thick gold liquid that burned whatever it touched, in this case, the broken booth that Dante had just been in. More Greed demons appeared via several businessmen, as Dante kicked one in the throat, slamming it to the ground and shooting it in the skull with Ebony. He noticed that the strippers weren't fleeing like the other patrons, but instead remained on their podiums, watching him fight with looks of apprehension, as another booth was broken, but by a Greed demon this time.

"If this is your plan to capture Dante," Vergil said, "It's not working."

"Thank you, Vergil, the obviousness had escaped me," Arius retorted sarcastically.

Choke-slamming a Greed into the floor, Dante launched off a flaming roundhouse kick into the head of one Greed, his foot then rebounding off and slamming into the face of a second Greed and he incinerated them both with a large fireball. Two Greeds vomited their viscous liquid at Dante, but he dashed out of the way in a blaze of flames, moving towards the pair and grabbing their arms. He delivered several swift and powerful kicks to their bodies, a twisting backflip knocking them onto their backs and Dante then flipped over once more, crushing their skulls beneath his feet. Arius snapped his fingers and the air rippled around Dante, regurgitating Bloody Marionettes. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, switching from Ifrit to Rebellion.

"If this is your plan to capture me, Arius," Dante called out, "It's not working."

He ducked under a Bloody Marionette's blade, slicing the demon in half, then stabbed a second Bloody Marionette, before smashing the demon through a private booth. One Bloody Marionette suffered a shotgun-like blast from the Nightmare Beta at close range, instantly turning the demon into a frozen statue which Dante then shattered. Bullets flew across the nightclub, hitting their targets with perfect precision, as Dante whipped the scythe about, rendering fresh from bone and Arius grimaced in annoyance when he saw the Bloody Marionettes burst apart into black mist.

"So, any chance we can talk now?" Dante asked, sheathing Rebellion on his back, "For starters, we can discuss the angels you've got here as strippers."

"Research, my friend," Arius replied, "Plus, they really are beautiful and are perfect revenue. Don't you agree?"

"They're hot, yes I'll agree on that, but using them as strippers? Uh, no. I'm guessing you've got some kind of magic going on that blocks theirs?"

"You can thank your dear brother for that one. He supplied both angels and the spell."

Dante's upper lip curled in disgust at his brother's actions, receiving a smug smirk from his twin in reply and he whipped out Ivory, firing off several shots that shattered the windows. Vergil had narrowly dodged the bullets, noticing that Dante had discovered the spell inscribed on each of the angels' podiums and was now destroying them one by one, thereby releasing the angels and Vergil saw his hard work go to waste. He wanted to kill his brother right then and there, but Arius, having seemingly noticed his intentions, place a hand on his shoulder.

"He is meaningless, remember? We are close to the Box now. Once we've opened it and our master comes forth, Dante wouldn't even matter."

Vergil let out a calming breath, disgusted with his brother carelessly destroying all his work. But Arius was only partially right, for Vergil didn't want Mundus to arrive, but instead, absorb all the power within the Box. The power of his parents.

"Dante, I'd love to stay for the show, but I have matters to attend to," Arius called out, "However, I'm sure Trish can entertain you instead."

With a smirk, she dropped down to the ground floor, Arius and Vergil made their leave. Dante saw that the angels he had freed had now left, which meant it was just him and Trish in the nightclub. A perfect setting for their fight.

"So, little angel, ready to die?" Trish asked.

"Bring it, hooker," Dante replied.

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	15. Battle of the Sexes

AN: So, here is it, the battle begins. And while it won't be a smashdown (I like Trish, lol), it's still not going to pretty either. After this, it kinda snowballs towards the end, as there's only a few chapters to go after this one

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"You know, I really hate to mess up that pretty face of yours," Dante said, "So, you can stand aside and let me go after my brother, but I will hurt you if you don't."

"I like the sound of that," Trish smirked, "I'm sure you'll find that I'm not someone who can be easily pushed around like the lesser demons."

"And yet, you get told what to do by a human. A human with magical powers, but a human nonetheless. So much for not being easily pushed around."

"I do not serve Arius' wishes. I serve my master, who needs Arius' services."

"Still not doing much better for your whole 'not easily pushed around' thing," Dante said, "Someone like you should really think about a solo trip."

Trish snickered, "My only purpose in life is to serve my master."

"Well, that sucks. Cause to me, that sounds like you're just a puppet. Nobody, just simply nothing, without your own goals in life to pursue."

"I have a goal right now and that is to either kill or capture you."

"Hooker, if you weren't evil, I'd gladly let you capture me. Who knows what kind of hi-jinks we could get up to, if you know what I mean."

"Unfortunately, I do and it makes you sound pathetic," Trish said.

"Damn, babe, you're a tough one to please."

"Why not just surrender before me then? That'll please me."

Dante smirked and licked his lips, "Oh, hooker, if only. You'd love it."

Severely annoyed, Trish fired a red bolt of lightning from her palm, growling in annoyance when she saw Dante standing on the centre stage, a cocky grin on his face, while the nightclub had received a new piece of renovation.

"Wow. I think this is going to be an interesting night."

Trish brought her palms together, then spread them apart, a bar of lightning between them, which she then launched, followed by another three bars at varying heights, all spreading across the width of the entire nightclub. Dante grinned, before gracefully and acrobatically darting amongst the beams, much to Trish's annoyance. While he was dodging the beams, Trish tried to hit him in mid-jump with lightning bolts, but even in mid-air, Dante was gracefully dodging her attacks. Drawing Rebellion, he fell with his sword aimed at her, but Trish reached under the back of her coat, drawing a pair of angelic swords and deflecting his strike, which was swiftly followed by a flipping kick that landed Dante flat on his back upon a podium.

"Wow, hooker knows how to fight. This is _really _going to be interesting."

Getting up, he parried Trish's blades, before stepping on one and kicking her in the face. She responded by hitting him in the chest at close range with a lightning bolt, then had to dodge the hail of bullets until Dante righted himself and landed on a podium. After dodging another two lightning bolts, he landed a kick on Trish's face when she came rushing in, spinning her around and he dropped down behind her. Rebellion came down overhead, being brought against Trish's swords and thereby pinning her against Dante's body, the hybrid holding her back to his chest.

"Whoa, hooker, I love the way you move. Wiggle a little to the left for me."

"Aren't you just a sad, little, hormonal boy?" Trish said, "I bet you've never felt the touch of a woman before."

"I'm feeling it now."

Trish turned her head to glare at him and Dante took the opportunity to kiss her, mostly to piss her off and also because he wanted to know what those lips of hers tasted like. What she had said was true about him having never felt the touch of a woman before and while Trish was clearly no woman, she was definitely one of the prettiest demons around and the closeness of her body right now was just sweet temptation, he had found it hard to resist…hmm, strawberries…

However, the kiss didn't last very long (a second at most) before Trish's stiletto boot connected with Dante's groin and he was then in the bar a lightning bolt later, while Trish furiously rubbed her lips, as if she was trying to erase the feeling, highly incensed by what he had just done, while Dante himself picked up an unbroken bottle.

"Hey, Jack Daniels!" he cried happily, before sculling half the bottle, "Oh, hooker!"

Leaping over the bar, he fired Ebony, the bullets that Trish deflected with her swords. One of them flew back at Dante, but struck the whiskey bottle instead when he threw it at her, forcing her to dive away from the small explosion. While she was distracted, Dante caught her by the ankle with the whip and flung her into the railings of the second floor, before having to dodge one of her lightning bolts and she landed on her feet with a look of rage on her face, unleashing another pair of lightning bolts.

"Babe, you're feisty!" Dante said, "I like it!"

"Screw Arius, I'm just going to kill you," Trish growled.

"I bet you did. Although, I'm surprised you didn't break him in half."

Trish's upper lip curled in disgust and fury, "You little punk!"

She moved at the speed of lightning, imitating a dual Stinger, before slicing her swords outwards in a wide arc, all of which that Dante dodged, even pushing off one of her swords when she slashed at him, during which he wore his infuriating smirk. Enraged, Trish began slashing at him, but they ended up in a dance of sword and skill, with Dante grinning as he toyed with her, showing off his superior abilities. Drawing back, Trish held both swords with one hand, before using her free hand to release several vertical bolts of lightning that spread out from each other, reaching from the ceiling to the floor of the nightclub, all heading straight for Dante. With amazing acrobatic skill, he managed to slip between two bolts, while firing off twin bullets that struck Trish in the stomach, doubling her over.

"I really didn't want to do this," she growled, "But you've given me no choice."

She unleashed her full demonic powers, transforming into a bird-like demon with large wings and sharp talons in place of her hands. With new power flowing through her body, Trish renewed her attack with vigour, red lightning arcing across the nightclub at a rapid pace, while Dante battled against her wicked fast strikes. When her blades sliced across his chest and she followed up with a forward-flip kick that landed him upon a now-destroyed podium, Dante decided that play time was over.

Just as Trish came flying at him, bringing both swords forth in a wide scissors action, Dante ascended into his angelic form, the energy flux throwing Trish off-course and he struck with a Stinger, as Rebellion became a whip and Dante flung her into the second-floor balcony. Trish spread her wings and floated down, unleashing blasts of lightning that tore throughout the nightclub, but always missed their target, who was now employing the use of the Nightmare Beta. With a few shots of ooze around Trish, Dante watched with a smile as the ooze 'activated', launching several spears that narrowly missed her when she dodged at the last minute.

However, that put her in the firing line of Ebony and Ivory, as Dante fired twin charged shots that slammed into Trish, knocking her out of Devil Trigger and she hit the dance floor in a slump, about to get back up when Rebellion pressed against her throat and both her swords were kicked away from her hands.

"Play time's over, sweetheart," Dante said, "Though it was fun while it lasted. Now, you've got a choice here, darling. You can tell me where Arius is or I kill you."

"If I tell you, you'll kill me, if I don't tell you, you'll kill me," Trish said, "Hm, not much of a choice there for me."

"Why are you trying to protect Arius? What good has he done for you? I mean, sure, he's gonna free your master, but really, other than that? And Mundus even. What good will he do for you?"

"I serve Lord Mundus without question. He is-"

"Blah, blah, blah, who cares. Trish, babe, that's not living. Serving some guy without question for all eternity? Can you say boring? Get out and experience what the world has to offer here. Okay, maybe not this city, but other places instead."

"Why do you care what I do with my life?" Trish asked, "I'm a demon. Last I checked, you kill my kind. So what gives?"

"I'd just hate to see a pretty girl like you taking orders because you can't be fucked to fight for your own meaning of life," Dante said, "Think about it, Trish. Do you want to be told what to do all the time by some guy who probably doesn't give a fuck about you? Rebel just a bit. You might like it."

Removing Rebellion from her neck, Dante sauntered over to the bar and poured himself a shot of strong alcohol, leaving Trish to contemplate his words. Once he had downed the shot, he turned back to Trish, waiting to see what she would do next.

"If you head into the slums, that's where you can find the entrance to the underground tunnels," Trish said, "You follow them, you'll find Arius and Vergil."

"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Dante said, "Think about what I said."

Slinging Rebellion over his shoulder, he gave Trish a salute, before leaving the heavily damaged nightclub and heading towards the slums. He hoped that Trish would think about his words and perhaps do something about her current position, hopefully something for the better. Now, if he could do that for Vergil, then maybe there was a chance that further bloodshed could be prevented.

_"On second thoughts, fuck that. I'm looking forward to the rematch."_

With a spring in his step, Dante leapt into the air, using the whip to pull himself onto a building rooftop, as he then lunged across to the next building, quickly gathering speed and literally racing away towards the slums for his eagerly awaited confrontation with his brother…and to prevent the opening of the Box.

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	16. Pit Arena Smackdown

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The slums of Limbo City were the slums for a reason. This was where the poor and hopeless lived, amongst the garbage of their own filth. It was a very gloomy place, where murders were rife throughout the area, at least one taking place every day, but the people here were as used it as they were breathing. Dante was thankful he had never had to live or traverse through the slums and even now, he was preferring to be elsewhere, but he had a job to do and it had brought him here.

"Alright, time to do this," he muttered to himself.

Stepping off the edge of the apartment block, Dante dropped onto the pavement and was about to start his search for the tunnel entrance when the ground started to quake and the world began to change around him, but Dante simply crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently, even faking a yawn as he waited for the shift to finish. Once it did, revealing an area that was more open without the buildings and more sinister, looking like a demonic version of the slums, Pride and Envy demons appeared. The former looked like a goat-headed satyr wielding a large axe, while the latter was more like a pink-skinned humanoid dripping ooze and wielding a scythe.

"Since you guys are trying to delay me, let's just make this quick."

An Envy internally exploded from dual charged bullets, as a Pride was pulled to Dante and struck with the scythe. A second Pride attempted to save its comrade, but was quickly palming its own head due to Dante's axe, while a second Envy received an overhead hail of bullets, its body breaking apart into a pile of ashes. One Pride swung its axe, but was deflected by Rebellion, as Dante then tore the demon in half with the angelic scythe. An Envy was riddled to death with bullets, as the remainder of the demons lunged at Dante at once. In response, he slammed his axe into the ground, creating a shockwave that blasted the demons into the air. He then fired the Nightmare Beta upwards, with the demons each being slammed into the ground via the rain of ice. Ifrit burst into appearance and Dante performed a Stinger-like blow to the nearest demon, destroying the Pride in a burst of flames. An Envy received a flaming kick to the face, as another Envy scored a skyward uppercut that shattered its skull.

Another charged ricocheting pair of bullets took care of the demons, the final demon getting impaled by a puddle of ooze shot at its feet. The spear retracted, the ooze melted away and the demon turned to ashes as Dante waited for the world to shift back to the human realm. However, it still remained in the demon domain and he wondered what was taking so long, when something struck him from behind. Rolling onto his feet and drawing his handguns, Dante smirked when he saw the attacker.

"Wow, you look good as new. That mean I can cut you in half again?"

Phantom's lip twitched as he fixed up his suit. With some help from Arius, his severed body parts had been restored and the demon was looking for a rematch with the hybrid, confident he had the power to do so, especially now he received the keyto unlock his true form.

"I see you've taken care of Trish," Phantom sneered, "I knew all along she was weak."

"Yeah, too bad I couldn't take care of her the way I wanted to," Dante said, "You, on the other hand, I can take care of the way I want."

"Sorry, but not this time, Dante. Mundus is going to rise tonight."

"Yeah, sorry butch, but I've got this annoying urge to stop you guys."

Dante fired a single shot from Ebony, hitting Phantom square in the centre of his forehead. The demon frowned, then smiled, lunging forth in blinding speed with a punch to Dante's chest, despite taking an extra two bullets in the torso. Dante went sliding along his back, feeling his body breaking through something paper-thin and he saw that he was back in the slums once more. He could see the barrier that was the demon dimension, which had now lit up inside, before the barrier broke and Phantom appeared. Except that he had completely transformed into a giant spider with a scorpion-like tail. He landed before Dante with a shockwave and the hybrid watched as the entire slums fell away, buildings crumbling to expose massive, flaming chasms filled with tall, razor-sharp spikes. People could be heard screaming as they fell into the chasms, crushed within the destroyed buildings, with only a few several large platforms of concrete left standing over the spikes, as Dante chuckled.

"You're a lot smaller than the last guy I killed. And the change in scenery tells me a lot about your skills: you need a danger field to hope to kill me with."

"But it's enough for me. And it's all I need."

"Right. Well, if you're going all out, then I might as well too."

With a grin, Dante Angel Triggered and used Rebellion like a baseball bat to deflect a fireball launched by Phantom. Wrath and Sloth demons made their presence known, appearing around Dante, as he spun around in a circle, blasting bullets with perfect precision, as Phantom stabbed the air with his tail, creating a pillar of flames that Dante avoided, but an unfortunate Sloth was incinerated instead. Dante grinned at the ashes, while blasting a Wrath point-blank in the face with the Nightmare Beta, the icicles cancelling out the demon's natural flames and thus killing it, turning its charred skeletal body to dust. Phantom roared, causing flames to burst up from the chasms, which then rained down upon Dante's platform, but while he flew across to the next one, the demons were too slow to respond and were all crushed beneath the flames.

"Hey, spider-face, you're gonna have to try harder than that!" Dante called.

Drawing Ebony and Ivory, he pelted Phantom's underbelly and with a small jump, performed a spinning vortex that hammered Phantom's stomach, just as the demon came crashing down with his full weight upon the shaky platform.

"Over here."

Phantom snarled from the stinging pain of numerous icicles shot into his face and he swung his tail, but Dante leapt into the air, performing the Rain Storm, splattering the ground with lava blood, as Phantom swung his tail again, missing Dante once more and receiving several spears of ooze through the bottom of his mouth. A massive pillar of flames burst up around Phantom, completely surrounding him and blasting Dante down towards the spikes. He used the whip to latch onto the platform, saving himself from impalement, but then the platform began to tilt, before crumbling completely. Hurriedly pulling himself above the collapsing wreck, Dante dashed across to the next platform, doing a mid-air flip over a large fireball and landing on the platform, as another pillar of fire made its presence known under his feet.

"Are you even trying to hit me?" Dante smirked, "Cause I don't think you are."

"I do not know why Arius is so concerned with capturing you," Phantom growled, "I think I'm just going to kill you instead."

"Trish said something like that, but look at how well she succeeded."

Phantom stabbed the air rapidly with his tail numerous times, igniting pillars of fire, all of which that Dante darted and leapt around, despite the rapid pace at which they were appearing and he was still finding time to fire off bullets at Phantom. Wrath, Pride and Sloth demons appeared, receiving bullets to their heads, as Dante pulled a Sloth demon close, tearing it apart with the scythe, then slammed the axe onto a Pride's head, cleaving it in another. A Wrath was blasted off the platform from a Stinger and onto the spikes below, while a second Wrath was stabbed in the stomach and slammed upon a Pride, Rebellion becoming an axe while still inside the Wrath and Dante destroyed both demons with an overhead slam. Phantom launched several fireballs in quick succession, while Dante was currently shredding the demons with the scythe and in the midst of the battle, he fired a blade of energy off Rebellion that sliced through the fireballs and struck Phantom in the face, drawing blood.

"Curse you!"

"I was cursed from the day I was born," Dante said, while impaling a Pride demon, "An angel and a demon hybrid? Can never be a good thing."

The Pride demon was slammed into the ground, then flung into the air, before getting pulled back in to receive a shotgun-like blast from the Nightmare Beta. Wrapped in ooze, the demon was helpless as it fell onto the spikes, as Dante leapt across to another platform in order to avoid the rain of fire upon the previous platform. Knowing that Phantom was starting to get frustrated, Dante leapt and dashed across the platforms in order to reach the demon, deflecting Phantom's tail with Rebellion and Phantom roared when his blood was sprayed across the ground. Dante responded by blasting a storm of bullets into Phantom's open mouth, which was followed by Rebellion and it transformed into the scythe, the blade coming out through the top of his head. With a grin, Dante used his demonic strength to slam Phantom onto his back, then tore the scythe away. Leaping over the demon, Dante penetrated his stomach with more bullets, impaling him with the whip, then flung him out into the air. Phantom was helpless to save himself and saw the wave from Dante, before falling down onto the spikes below, while the hybrid watched from the edge.

"How could this be?" Phantom cried in disbelief, "I, the mighty Phantom, defeated by a mere angel? I am much better than this!"

"Perhaps, but now you're only good for shish kabob," Dante smirked, "Don't feel so bad about it. You did well, it was fun, but it just wasn't enough."

"It's impossible! I have failed my master!"

"It was bound to happen. I'm the son of Sparda. It's a no-brainer really."

Phantom groaned one last time as his body slowly broke apart into ashes, falling into the flames, as Dante relaxed his powers, returning to his normal form and he navigated his way out of the destroyed slums, regretful for the damage that had been caused and the lives that had been lost. With a renewed determination to stop the actions of his brother to prevent any further lives lost, Dante quickened his pace in search for the entrance to the tunnels that would lead him to Pandora's Box.

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AN: What can I say? I like classic Phantom. Works for me.


	17. The Prince of Death

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The steel doors slid open to reveal the cavern, with brackets lighting up when Vergil and Arius stepped inside, the latter dragging the semi-conscious Patty behind him. Under immense torture, Patty had given in and revealed the true location of Pandora's Box, allowing Arius to destroy the charms protecting the cavern and gain access to the Box. Now, all that had to be performed was the incantation to open the Box and absorb all the power that contained inside. Believing that only someone of angel or demon blood could handle the power and being only a mere human despite his own power, Arius had finally created a combination of both angel and demon blood, injecting it into his own bloodstream and hoping it was enough for him. He had noted that there were some slight changes in his body, such as increased speed, strength and reflexes, so he had his fingers crossed it would last long enough for him to take the power of the Box. It would be better if he had been able to use either Dante or Vergil's blood, but he had to make do with what he had at hand.

"Do you know the incantation required to open the Box?" Vergil asked.

"Of course. Little Patty here told me during our chat earlier," Arius replied.

"Unfortunately for you, the incantation isn't enough."

Drawing Yamato, Vergil whirled around to impale Arius, but was shot in the head and fell to the ground, as the sorcerer then stepped down onto his chest and fired another bullet into the hybrid's head. However, Vergil flicked his wrist, creating a small gash in Arius' side and he jumped back in pain, as Vergil got to his feet, wincing as the bullets were forced from his head and the wounds closed over.

"Did you not think I would know of your deceit?" Arius asked, healing his injury, "I know you are not a follower of Mundus and that you want the Box for yourself."

"You were only a tool to be used for my gains," Vergil said, "And it appears you think of me as that as well. But know this, Arius, the Box is mine."

"You think I'd go through all this trouble just to let some two-bit hybrid like you take the Box from me? You're an expendable asset, young Vergil, but useful too. However, this is where your journey ends and mine begins."

Vergil smirked and rushed forth, as Arius raised his revolver, but it was sliced in half by Yamato, as Vergil then spun around, his back to Arius and Yamato sliding straight through the sorcerer's stomach. With another twirl, Vergil ripped Arius' stomach open, before flicking the blood off Yamato and slowly sheathing it. When the blade clicked back into place, Arius collapsed in a pool of his own blood and Vergil smirked. Removing his amulet, Vergil placed it in the lock of the Box, before Angel Triggering. He then drew Yamato and sliced open his own palm, dripping his blood upon the chest, while speaking the incantation required to open the Box.

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Dante dropped down into the tunnels, instantly under heavy gunfire, as he responded with Ebony and Ivory, careful not to kill the humans, looking to incapacitate instead. Ducking out from cover, Dante fired a charged twin shot that created a small explosion, exposing a few men, all who received bullets to the legs or shoulders. Heading further through the tunnels and taking out the men, Dante came out into a large area where more armed men stood guard, though they were quickly taken down. However, as soon as the last man fell, several Demonochorus appeared. Looking like a baby with avian wings, they carried crossbows, but it was the look of a new demon that really drew Dante's attention. It was taller than him, with a giant, fat yellow-green body, stubbly legs, black wispy tendrils rising up from its head, but its arms ended in huge clubs with thick spikes, stained with the red blood of its victims. The Tank bellowed at the sight of Dante and charged at him, swinging its deadly fists. He responded by shooting a single, charged round into the Tank's head, but the demon simply stared at him, as the bullet was forced out of the wound, which closed over.

"Oh, shit."

The Tank slammed its right fist into Dante's chest, punching holes and drawing blood, as Dante rolled back onto his knees, blasting away with Ebony and Ivory, as the Demonochorus' all fired their crossbows at once. In response, Dante fired a pair of ricocheting bullets amongst the Demonochorus, before drawing Rebellion and blocking the Tank's next blow, after which the axe then sliced through the Tank's heaving gut, but despite the flames, the wound healed, as the Tank then backhanded Dante. He hit the wall hard, blood dripping from his face, as the Tank punched at him again. Rolling out of the way, Dante fired into the demon's back, growling in annoyance when he saw the bullets being spat back out and the Tank came charging at him again. Firing off two quick energy waves, Dante followed up with a Stinger that managed to blast the damaged Tank across the area. He then pulled himself towards the demon via the whip, before engaging the scythe and slicing the Tank's right arm off. In response, the Tank punched Dante across the area and charged once more, but stepped onto a puddle of ooze that shot upwards into spears.

Summoning Ifrit, Dante began mercilessly pounding the Tank, flames rolling off the armour as Dante increased the speed of his blows, but the Tank found an opening and struck, but Dante was instantly back at the demon once more. Performing a kick that launched into an overhead flip, Dante brought a charged Rebellion slamming down, cleaving the Tank completely in half. As both pieces burned away into ashes, he sheathed Rebellion and continued through the tunnels, which had now started to shake as if it had been struck by an earthquake. Quickening his pace, Dante dived away from the boulder that smashed down from the ceiling, blocking off the exit and he found himself in a massive cavern where the rumbling seemed to be coming from. Then, the cause behind the earthquake soon arrived on the scene in the form of a gargantuan Fetish demon. The few noticeable differences was that this demon's face wasn't fixed in a horrified expression, but more of a furious look, while it had less legs than its smaller brethren, with the existing ones much stronger-looking and tipped with long, thick nails. Another pair of humanoid-arms rested beneath the demon's head, curled up like a praying mantis, as veins pulsated across the thick, wobbly flesh.

"And who are you, you ugly fuck?" Dante asked.

**"I am Eurynome, the Prince of Death!"** the demon bellowed.

"Maybe that should be changed to the Prince of Fugliness."

**"You would be the vexation known as Dante,"** Eurynome said, **"My master has told me that you are to be destroyed."**

"Guess he's given up trying to capture me. Took him long enough."

Rebellion became the axe and sliced a Fetish in half, then Ebony and Ivory tore through the other arriving Fetishes, as Eurynome swept his large front hands swiftly across the area. Dante bounced off the wall, popping a Fetish's head open like a zit with his handguns, before turning his aim towards Eurynome. The giant demon snarled against the pinpricks of bullets, its praying mantis hands twirling fingers together, creating spikes of dark magic that burst up from the ground in succession. Dante darted around them, axe-Rebellion splitting a Fetish's head open, while another Fetish was trapped within a puddle of ooze, unable to break out. Dante hit the wall again and in response, he activated his angelic powers, riddling a Fetish with so many rapid-fired bullets that the demon burst apart like a blood-filled balloon, while a second Fetish was caught by the whip and slammed into the ground, receiving a bellyful of bullets before Dante finished it off with the fiery axe.

Eurynome lashed out again, but this time, Dante leapt once, his second jump coming off a small platform of magic he had briefly created, but it was enough to sail over the demon's giant hands and he was even able to avoid the spikes of dark magic, while doing the Rain Storm, spraying bullets in a wide arc that destroyed the Fetishes.

**"Why won't you stay still?"** Eurynome snarled.

"Why don't you go and get fucked?" Dante retorted, "Oh, I guess it's a bit hard considering how hideous you are. Man, I feel sorry for you. Wait, no I don't."

Eurynome clapped his front hands together, narrowly missing Dante, who blasted away with Ebony and Ivory, before having to avoid the rain of dark magic that burned holes in the ground. Landing, Dante stopped a hand with the Stinger move, then used the whip to slammed the second hand onto the ground and he raced along Eurynome's arm. The demon swiped with its other hand, but Dante leapt over it, then dodged the constricting bands of dark magic that flew for him. Rebellion slashed across the demon's face, as Dante then impale Eurynome in the face with the whip, slamming his head against the ground. With the scythe in hand, Dante leapt up atop Eurynome's head, standing amongst the quivering flesh, before stabbing the scythe in and running along, splitting the mass of flesh open, yellow blood pouring down Eurynome's body as he screamed in agony. Reaching the end, Dante took a deep breath and plunged inside Eurynome's body, bursting out through his mouth, blood cascading and creating a large pool, filling in the holes, as Eurynome drowned from his own blood, collapsing on the ground before Dante.

"Yeah, you're the Prince of Death alright, since you're dead and all now."

Sheathing Rebellion, Dante remained in his angelic form and continued on his journey. His brother was close by, he could tell and that meant another battle. However, Dante was prepared, since he knew what he was now fighting for. The fate of the human race rested on his shoulders, just like it did for his father before him, but Dante knew he was up to the task and was more than willing to carry it out, determination burning in his heart, mostly for his mother's sake than his father's, but if he succeeded against Vergil, then he would be living up to his father's legacy.

_"Guess it's time to make you guys proud."_

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AN: Only two chapters to go now. Wow, it really snowballed and it's nearly finished. But next chapter: Dante & Vergil rematch!


	18. A Clash of Power

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"Why isn't it working?" Vergil demanded, "I have the key, I have the blood, I even got the incantation right. So why isn't the damn thing opening?"

"Maybe because you're missing a second key," came a familiar voice.

Vergil whirled around, hand flying to the skull, as Dante sauntered into the cavern, Ebony and Ivory in hand, as he took notice of Arius lying in a pool of his own blood, but then his attention was drawn by the slump form of Patty, sparks of dark magic still coursing around her and he rushed to her side, thankful to see she was still breathing.

"What are you talking about? What second key?" Vergil demanded.

"See, while you got most of the info on how to open the Box from those books for yours, Dad told me a few extra things," Dante said, "Guess he knew how power hungry you are, seeing as how you're trying to undo what he's done."

"Let me guess, the second key is your amulet?"

"Well, they do combine together to form one big key, which is what's really needed."

"Give me the amulet, Dante, and I'll spare you," Vergil said, holding his hand out.

"Fuck off, big brother, it doesn't work like that," Dante smirked, "If you want it, you come and take it."

"Gladly."

Yamato came zinging out of its sheath, slamming against Rebellion, as both Angel-Triggered brothers struggled against each other. Dante pushed Vergil back and sent forth the whip, but Vergil deflected and brought his axe slamming down overhead. Darting out of the way, Dante fired away with his handguns, but his bullets were smacked aside and he had to avoid the energy spears fired by his twin. While Dante was briefly off-guard by the spears, Vergil teleported next to his brother, slicing his side open, scoring a fiery punch to the head from Ifrit in response. Dante parried Yamato with the gauntlets, kicking Vergil's feet out from underneath him. While Vergil was falling through the air, Dante followed the trip kick up with a spinning kick to his brother's stomach, sending him flying across the cavern. The elder twin managed to land on his feet, though he still slid back from the force of the kick.

"My, Dante, impressive," Vergil chuckled, "Where'd you get this power from?"

"It's not about power, Vergil," Dante replied, "It's about what's right."

"Opening the Box is what's right, brother. Power is everything. Without power, you can't hope to save anything, let alone yourself."

"This is about Mom, isn't it? You weren't the only one who failed to save her."

"But I'm the only one who wants to do anything about it. You, on the other hand, seem content to do nothing about her death," Vergil accused.

"I kill demons," Dante responded, "Sooner or later, I'm going to find the demon who ordered Mom's death and I'm going to kill him. This isn't the right way, Vergil."

"No, but it's one of the ways. Now, hand over that amulet and stand down."

Dante looked down at his own amulet, the last gift his mother had given him before her death, a key to the Box that contained the full, undiluted power of both Sparda and Eva. Whoever was able to obtain and manage the entire contents of the Box would become god-like…and perhaps even have the power to bring his mother back to life.

"Sorry, Vergil, not going to happen," Dante decided.

"Then you are a fool," Vergil growled.

Yamato became an angelic scythe and the elder twin swung the weapon hard, as Dante responded with the demonic axe, blocking the blow, sparks flying through the air. Dante then swung at his brother, who teleported to the opposite side of the cavern, an energy wave flying off Yamato's blade. Leaping over it, Dante squeezed off several rounds with Ebony and Ivory, but kept missing his target due to Vergil's teleporting.

"Hey, stop being a bitch with the teleporting and actually fight me," Dante said.

"If you insist."

The air rippled just slightly and Dante gasped, as behind him, Vergil slowly sheathed Yamato. When it clicked, Dante collapsed, blood staining his white shirt, as the elder twin smirked and stood next to his brother, but he had failed to notice the puddle of ooze, so caught up in wanting Dante's amulet. Twin spears shot up, impaling Vergil through his armpits, as Dante quickly moved in front of his brother, pinning him to the wall with icicles fired from the Nightmare Beta like a shotgun. With a grimace, Vergil pulled himself off the spear-like icicles, before lunging at Dante once more, their blades slamming against each other, heat generating between the swords. Both were very bloody from the fight so far, but neither one was showing any marks from it, nor were they getting tired from the battle, both wearing identical smirks.

"Do you fight the inevitable?" Vergil asked, "Why do you refuse to gain power?"

"Because there's no fun in it," Dante replied, "Kicking your ass, however, is fun."

"Please, brother, you can hardly hope to ever beat me."

"Maybe. But that's not gonna stop me from fighting you every chance I get."

The heat between Rebellion and Yamato was rapidly increasing, sparks flying from the blades, but neither Vergil or Dante refused to give in. They were too caught up in their fight to notice what was happening in their surroundings until it was too late. There was a flash of light, alongside a scream and the twins were slammed against the far wall, as the amulet was then snatched from Dante before he could respond and jammed into the lock atop Vergil's amulet. There was another flash of light, this one smaller and Arius smirked at the pair, his eyes glowing bright gold. Dante looked around, but was unable to see Patty anywhere, as Vergil lunged at Arius, swinging Yamato. However, to the elder hybrid's surprise, Arius easily caught the blade between both hands.

"All that fighting with each other, you really think it doesn't wear you down?" Arius said, "Mind you, you did take your time getting to that point. I think I nearly died from waiting for so long for the right opportunity."

With a simple shrug, he hurled Vergil across the cavern, as Dante moved for the sorcerer, but was struck by a shockwave of air and landed beside his brother.

"Where's Patty?" Dante demanded, "What have you done with her?"

"Why, she's inside me. I have absorbed her complete essence, granting me further powers and I believe the ability to withstand the power of this Box. Such an extraordinary thing your parents have crafted. Let's see what's inside."

Arius tapped the Box and it slowly creaked open, a blinding light emitting from within. Vergil and Dante moved for him at the same time, dodging the fireballs and lightning bolts, but Vergil was then encased up to his neck in ice, while Dante was hurled against the rocky wall by a gale of wind, shackled there by dark magic, as Arius smirked and fully opened the Box. There was an almighty, unearthly roar and Arius screamed as the massive light was sucked straight into his body. Both Vergil and Dante closed their eyes against the blinding light, until the roar ended and the light was no more. Slowly, the twins opened their eyes, staring at Arius, who staggered and wobbled under the overwhelming power of both Sparda and Eva.

"Wow, it's amazing," Arius chuckled, "I feel…I feel like…like a…go-argh!"

His body began swelling, as Vergil shattered the ice with Yamato, before severing Dante's shackles and together, they tried once more. However, Arius caught Vergil by the face with a hand that was just as big as Vergil's head, slamming him against the ground, then with a mighty backhand, smashed Dante through the steel doors of the cavern. The entire place began rumbling due to Arius' increasing size, his body changing shape as he grew, his skin becoming dark brown, as gold armour began appearing. His hair became long and white, reaching down to his waist, as his clothes fell to shreds and his head became a hollow, golden and spiked helmet. Chiropteran wings unfurled from his back and with a massive fist, Arius destroyed the cavern, creating a huge chasm as he came bursting up through the ground and into Limbo City. Dante raced into the cavern, taking his amulet from the Box and noticing a plain sword resting inside. However, he didn't have time to grab it and instead, he used the whip to pull himself up through the chasm and out into the city. The slums were still destroyed from the fight against Phantom, as Dante turned towards the demonic Arius.

"So, guess this place is going to be your grave," he said, "Pretty fitting, I guess, considering how you own half this city. Ready to be buried in it?"

**"You cannot comprehend the power that I hold now,"** Arius boomed, **"The power of both Sparda and Eva. The Dark Knight and the Heavenly Warrior."**

"Yeah, yeah. Means nothing if you don't know how to use it."

Arius leaned forth, a massive beam of white energy being blasted from the empty cavern inside his helmet, slamming into Dante and tearing throughout the city behind him. However, Arius held the beam onto Dante, hoping that the sheer force of it would destroy him and only let up when he felt it was enough, which was after about five minutes. But in spite of this, Dante was relatively unharmed, while Rebellion, on the other hand, had been broken in two during the attack.

**"Ha, you have no weapon now. You can't hope to defeat me!"**

"Dante!"

He turned around, snatching the sword out of mid-air, the same sword from the Box and he felt a kindred spirit within the blade, recognising it as the weapon that his father had wielded, while Vergil was standing beside him, glaring at Arius.

"So, you try to kill me, then join my side to fight against Arius?" Dante questioned.

"Do you really think he's worthy of the power of our parents?" Vergil retorted, "He's not the main attraction, nor does he deserve to be."

"Well, I guess you're right. But this is only a one-off thing, got it?"

"We're wasting time now, shall we kill him?"

**"You have no chance!"** Arius cried.

"Let's do it," Dante grinned.

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AN: Next chapter: the finale


	19. Here's the Finale

AN: Well, here is the final chapter. I wish it was a little longer, but sometimes it happens. So, I would like to thank SirenaLoreley and others for their reviews, I have really enjoyed reading them, so thank you once more. So here is the last chapter.

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Bloody Marionettes appeared on the battlefield, where one - alarmingly - was wielding a chainsaw instead of twin blades, as flaming tornadoes burned through the air. Dante leapt to his right to avoid a tornado, while shooting at the nearby Bloody Marionettes, while Vergil drew in a chainsaw-wielding Bloody Marionette with the whip, then slashed rapidly with Yamato, reducing the demon to several body parts. Arius drove his fists towards the twins, creating shockwaves when he connected with the ground, as well as flaming pillars beneath the twins' feet, but the brothers were agile enough to avoid them in time, as Dante fired at the opening in Arius' helmet. A whirlwind was sent his way in response, while Vergil was taking care of the Bloody Marionettes, using all the weapons of Yamato to great effect. Lightning rained down, missing their intended targets, as Arius created a portal with a click of his fingers, dispelling the Seven Sin demons, along with several Marionettes and Fetishes.

**"Don't keep fighting,"** Arius said, **"It is hopeless."**

"I thought this guy wanted to free Mundus," Dante asked his brother.

**"Pitiful how Mundus needs a human to free him. I am the real power around here now. Fuck Mundus. He's nothing compared to me."**

"I guess that answers your question," Vergil replied, decapitating a Marionette.

Another chainsaw was started up, but the Marionette responsible was caught by the whip and spun around in a circle, the chainsaw ripping through any demons caught in the path, as Vergil then slammed the Marionette into the ground, followed by the axe into its chest. The Marionette burned away into ashes, while Vergil teleported away from a hail of giant icicles fired at him by Arius. Meanwhile, Dante was using the Force Edge, finding to his annoyance that the sword didn't hold any special abilities like Rebellion did, forcing the wielder to completely change his fighting style. Dashing towards an Envy, Dante impaled it, then flung it into a Wrath, followed by a charged shot into the latter demon that created a small explosion. A Lust rushed Dante and he punched her with Ifrit, dropping her and landing a flaming axe kick onto her head, killing her instantly, while a second Wrath was shot with the Nightmare Beta, the icicles being fired in a machinegun-like manner.

**"You will learn to not fuck with a god,"** Arius cried.

He punched his fist upwards into the sky, the power in him allowing him to break through the barrier between the human and the demon dimensions, during which the latter began to bleed into the former, with Arius having effectively created a portal to Hell. He crouched low, unleashing a beam of energy that swept throughout the city, destroying anything in its path, save for Dante and Vergil atop a rickety building. Demons came pouring through the rift to replace the ones killed either by the twins or the beam, as Arius punched at the brothers, destroying the building, but missing them.

"Any plans on how to take him out?" Dante asked.

"There's no way he can keep using that power," Vergil said, "Despite having absorbed Patty, his body will eventually break down…or get used to the power inside."

"So, we'll just keep on the offensive until a miracle happens?"

"It appears that way."

Arius drew back his fist, then rocketed it towards the twins, as they leapt in opposite directions. Vergil used the whip to hold the fist down, as Dante began running along Arius' arm. A wave of dark energy spikes came racing down towards him, but he leapt out of the way, twisting his body to catch hold of the whip and hurl Vergil through the air. Vergil then landed on Arius' arm and continued the journey, teleporting away from the lightning bolt, as Dante began shooting at Arius to draw his attention away from his brother. The attempt worked and Dante narrowly avoided the massive fist that a Tank demon did not, as Vergil sliced a whirlwind apart with an energy blade from Yamato, before having to avoid Arius' fist. His teleport had put him onto Arius's other arm and in line with his face, as Dante charged his demonic energy into the Force Edge, before hurling it. Arius fired an energy at Vergil, who teleported out of the way, catching hold of the Force Edge, adding his own energy to the charged sword and he threw it towards Arius' face, as Dante fired twin charged bullets from his handguns. The energy of both the sword and the bullets detonated inside Arius' helmet, the former slicing out through the back, before returning like a boomerang, straight back into Dante's hands.

**"No, I will not be defeated like this!"** Arius cried, **"Not by two mere weaklings! I am a god and I will destroy you both!"**

With a roar, he unleashed another blast of energy from the empty pit of his helmet, instantly vaporising the demons and washing over the twins. They struggled to stand up against the force of the beam, but then, their eyes flashed red and power surged through their bodies, as while they were still caught up in the beam's path, the brothers unleashed a blade of energy from their swords. The two arcs sliced straight through Arius' beam and through his helmet, exploding upon contact. He roared as he collapsed, creating a massive shockwave that rocked the entire city.

"Time for you to go all the way to Hell," Dante said, "Let's go, ladies."

Twirling Ebony and Ivory around, he crossed them over each other, energy being channelled into the guns and he fired a twin shot that spiralled straight towards Arius, striking him in the face. He roared once more, his body being pulled towards the rift he had created and despite his resistance, Arius was sucked straight into Hell. Dante smiled, holstering his guns, as Vergil pulled Yamato on him.

"That sword. I want it. It was Father's and now it's mine."

"Sorry, Vergil, but you've already got your own, so get fucked."

With a growl, Vergil slashed with Yamato, as Dante blocked the blow. The elder hybrid was about to strike again, when Arius came out of the portal, sweeping his giant hand, still trying to escape from Hell. Dante was able to leap away in time, but Vergil on the other hand, saw the hand too late and was swept up in Arius' grasp, just as he surrendered to Hell, pulling Vergil in with him. With the use of the whip, Vergil was able to snatch the Force Edge from Dante's hand, as he tried to go after his brother, but with the Box's power being expelled from Arius, the rift closed and Dante ended up kissing dirt instead. He punched the ground in frustration of having failed to save his brother and slowly got to his feet. The place was quiet, with only the sound of crumbling buildings to comfort him. Laughter slowly escaped Dante's lips, before getting louder and he let loose with a loud laugh, if only to stop himself from crying, but he still couldn't stop the few tears that managed to escape.

"Dante?"

He turned around, seeing Patty looking around confused at her surroundings and he was by her side in an instant. A smile came to her face when she saw him and before Dante could do anything, she had pulled him into a hug that lasted just a little too uncomfortably long for him, but he knew it was what she needed after whatever horrific ordeal she had endured while stuck inside Arius.

"It's all good now, Patty," Dante said when she drew back, "It's over now."

"I know. The power has been restored back to the Box and it's closed now," Patty said, "Soon, I shall restore all the charms to make sure it's never opened again."

"Where would that leave you then?" Dante asked, "Would you still be its guard?"

"Perhaps. This was the first time in two thousand years that it's been breached and I don't see it happening any time soon. Doesn't mean you've gotten rid of me though."

"Heh, I didn't think so, kid."

"So, what are you doing to do now?" Patty asked.

Looking at his amulet, Dante looped it back around his neck, feeling his angelic powers being maintained and he decided to remain in this form, knowing that despite the increased power he now had, his humanity remained intact by his ability to cry and that fact would keep him grounded. He wondered if he had been able to live up to his father's legacy, deciding that if he didn't, he now had a real purpose in life.

"Think I might actually become a demon hunter," Dante said, "There's a lot of people that need saving from the demons and I'm the only guy who can do it."

"Well, I wish you luck," Patty said, "Maybe I'll see you around, Dante. Thank you."

She slowly faded away with a smile, as Dante picked up the remains of Rebellion. He looked out towards the destroyed city, knowing that he could no longer remain here. The city was way beyond salvation and his presence would not be able to help it and that meant it was time to leave. It was fitting in a way, leaving Limbo City, the place where he had lived all his life in search for his new life somewhere else. At least that way, Dante could do what he wanted to do without any hindrance from the authority and that would allow him to set up what he had in mind for his new life. Trekking along the road, Dante failed to notice Trish standing on one of the few remaining buildings, but when he did detect a presence and looked up, she had already left. Thinking nothing of it, Dante continued on down the lonely road towards the hopefully better future lying out before him.

Though, what could he call his new, demon-hunting business?

_"Devil May Cry has a fitting ring to it. Yeah, that sounds perfect."_

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Vergil and Arius tumbled through the depths of Hell, finally landing in a low pool of blood, the former landing on his feet, while the latter collapsed, the loss of his god-like powers having reverted him back to human form. The sorcerer looked around frantically, unable to believe where he was and that he was human again.

"No, this isn't right. This isn't how it should have gone. I was a god! I was unstoppable! This is all your fault!"

Vergil simply cocked an eyebrow, as Arius lunged at him. Quicker than the blink of the human eye, Vergil was now behind Arius and slowly sheathed Yamato. When the blade clicked into place, Arius fell apart into two halves, as Vergil turned back to his former partner. Now that he had his father's sword, Vergil knew there was nothing stopping him from climbing out of Hell and confronting his brother once more. This time, he would be victorious and nothing would stop him from opening Pandora's Box. However, first, he would have to deal with this cloud that had appeared before him, three orbs of energy appearing within the cloud and Vergil smirked.

"Mundus, I see you've showed up. Foolish really. I am the son of Sparda after all."

Drawing Yamato and the Force Edge, he rushed towards the Prince of Darkness.

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AN: And that is the end. I did want another Dante-Vergil fight to finish it, but it seemed a little too DMC3-ish, so I left it like this, even if Vergil does meet Mundus here. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and how it ends. So, where do we go from here? Who knows.


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